Still I Rise
by Lisbeth Lou Who
Summary: Abandoned by his House and his friends after his name comes out of the Goblet, Harry feels betrayed and alone. Help comes in the form of know-it-all Hermione Granger. A less forgiving Harry, a Ravenclaw Hermione. HHr.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A tougher and less forgiving Harry, a slightly OOC Ravenclaw!Hermione. **

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

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**Still I Rise - Maya Angelou**

_You may write me down in history_

_With your bitter, twisted lies,_

_You may tread me in the very dirt_

_But still, like dust, I'll rise._

**Chapter 1**

Cheater.

He heard the word constantly the week following the announcement of the Tri-Wizard Champions, when his name was somehow pulled out of the Goblet and he was entered in the contest. He was then branded as a glory-seeker, an attention wanter, a cheater, a liar, a traitor. He was shunned by most of his House, including his best and first mate, Ron.

He already had 'fame' with being the bloody 'Boy-Who-Lived', why would he want more of it, when he doesn't even want it in the first place? Ron had refused to speak to Harry and when he did, it was only to berate him for being a 'glory-seeking prat'. He felt all the glares as he walked down the hallway, he heard the whispers, he knew the accusations.

It was him against the whole school and he didn't even think that the teachers believed him. McGonagall wasn't helping, neither was Dumbledore, the only words he spoke was that he was entered into a legally binding contract and would have to compete, or lose his magic. The whispers were overwhelming, and he needed to find solace.

Which was how he ended up in the school library on break before dinner, a place he never visited too often during his time at Hogwarts, since Ron held an innate aversion to learning. He just needed a quiet place to think, and maybe to start researching how to stay alive in this tournament. Problem was, he had no idea how or where to start looking. They had just started fourth year, barely learning anything and he honestly doubted that the Cheering Charm would help him survive. Dumbledore said that people had died in the bloody tournament, who knew what they were going to throw at them.

He also had the damn dreams to worry about, his scar aching more and more after every dream involving _him_. Voldemort was still out there, looming over his head like a dark cloud. The dreams were scaring him, making him jumpy and he felt the constant pressure building up inside of him. He kept thinking that he would snap at any second. How long was he going to last at all?

"What are you doing?"

Harry had been lost in his thoughts while absent-mindedly scanning a bookcase when he spun around to see Hermione Granger standing a couple of feet away from him, eyebrow raised in question.

He sighed and couldn't help the slight irritation from slipping into his tone. "What does it_ look_ like, Granger?"

"You _look_ lost, which is probably because I've never seen you in the library before. Why the sudden interest?" Hermione asked, sounding curious as she set her things down on the desk that Harry had set his down on, "Oh, and this is my desk."

"Didn't see your name on it," muttered Harry as he turned back and scanned the books once more. What the hell was he supposed to be looking for?

"I call seniority, but I guess I can share."

He turned his head to snap at her, his already thin patience at its end, but before he could open his mouth, she had already wandered into the aisle on the other side of the bookshelf he was browsing. He just shook his head and scanned the titles, but the words were blurring together and he couldn't think. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, wincing at the small ache from his scar.

He and Hermione Granger haven't had any significant conversations in the last four years of going to school together. He could barely recall a time where he had said five words to her before now. She wasn't in his House, and she was a bookworm, often known as the best in their year. That was the only recognition she really got as she wasn't particularly stunning, in fact she was quite plain with brown hair that was quite bushy, deep brown eyes, and slightly large front teeth.

All she was to him was just another student in his year. The only significant amount of time he spent with her was on the Express before first year. She came into his and Ron's compartment looking for Neville's toad with a bossy tone in her voice. She had fixed his glasses for him, 'showing Ron up', which of course caused the insecure boy to respond in the only way he knew how, his temper, declaring her 'mental' after she had left.

Harry watched as she picked out a book and he was able to see her face through the shelf, her brow furrowed as she studied the cover of the book. They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, before Harry felt it becoming too thick on his end. Funny how he would have given anything for silence out in the halls, but he needed to talk to someone. She held no ties to Harry, so he figured that was why he felt the impulse to talk to her.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry blurted out, surprised when he saw the indifferent face of Hermione as she flipped through the book in her hands.

"I know."

He did a double take before frowning, slightly taken back. A girl he had barely said two words to throughout their four years at Hogwarts believes him, but his best friend and housemates don't? What kind of logic is that...oh, yeah, he learned that magic and logic do not go hand in hand.

"How?" he asked baffled and curious, causing her to raise her brown eyes to his._  
_

"Simple logic. Number one: Professor Dumbledore set an age line and there was _no way _you could get through that, unless you had an older student to put your name in, which brings me to number two: you looked absolutely terrified when your name was read - genuinely scared - so that cancelled out that idea. Anyone with half a brain could see that you didn't put your name in," she shrugged and let out a sigh, "Then again, Gryffindors are not exactly known for using their brains, are they?"

He normally would have defended his House against the insult, but with the way they were acting, she was right. "Yes, but _your_ House doesn't believe me. I thought they were supposed to be the intelligent ones?"

She grimaced, "True, but my House also has _'God's gift to mankind' _Cho Chang in it, and she is going out with Cedric Diggory. As for the others, the Hufflepuffs finally got _something_ that could pull them out of their bad reputation, but you go and 'steal their thunder' while the Slytherins hate you over something out of your control. Kind of like they hate me."

He understood her words immediately. _Mudblood_. Even though he didn't _know _Hermione, he knew that _word _had been thrown at her a lot, especially from Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. To his newfound shame, he never had done anything about it. He had _heard_ it in passing as he walked halls, Malfoy and Parkinson calling her a 'filthy Mudblood'. If Malfoy called him 'Potty' or 'Scarhead', like the Snake frequently did, he and Ron would go ape-shit, but calling Hermione a Mudblood was of no consequence to him.

He looked back up, but she had put the book back and her face was blocked from his view, though he could see the top of her bushy hair over the books.

"So, what_ exactly_ is it that you're looking for?" he heard from the other side.

"Something to help me with the tournament. I'm going against six and seventh years who already know fifth, sixth, and seventh year spells," he practically spat, the bitter venom on his tongue reminding him that he didn't sign up for this tournament. They both reached the end of the aisle and Harry saw that she was juggling a couple of books in her hands.

"I see your problem," said Hermione, before looking almost uncertain. "Would you like some help?"

Harry frowned, "W-What?"

"Research. Would you like some help? It's what I'm good at," she shrugged, holding his eye contact.

"But...why would _you _help _me_?"

She didn't answer right away, gnawing on her lip with a thoughtful expression on her face before laughing mirthlessly, "I guess...because I know what it's like to be alone, I know what it's like to be ostracized from your House, I know what it's like to be whispered about behind your back, and it's...it's not fun."

Harry was brought up short by her words and looked at her. He knew that she got picked on, teased for being a 'know-it-all' and for her bossy nature, even Snape would throw jabs at her. He would sometimes see her eating alone at the Ravenclaw table, sometimes he would even hear some girls in her House making snide comments about her hair and teeth. He was there when Ron had insulted her in first year, laughing along while she ran off crying.

He watched as she limped over to the table she had set her things on and suddenly he felt a stab of guilt. He knew she was in the bathroom crying the Halloween of 1991 when that troll was let loose in the school. He had heard from word of mouth that she was attacked by the troll and seriously injured, having to stay in the infirmary for a while that year and she still walked with a limp.

He felt no guilt back then, since she was just another girl in his year, but he realized that, inadvertently, he helped cause those injuries. If only he had stopped Ron from insulting her, if only he had stopped her from running off. He thought that it was all in good fun.

It was all in good fun with him against Dudley and Piers Polkiss too, wasn't it?

That thought made him sick to his stomach, the comparison to those two. Here she was, offering to help him, after he had done nothing for her in four years of going to school together. He realized it was a testament that she was a much better person than he. Maybe this tournament was all Karma coming back around to punch him in the face, adding to the stress of Voldemort because he acted like an arse to Hermione, and didn't stop people from bullying her.

He could barely choke out the words as he took a seat at the table, "Th-thank you."

He received a decisive nod from Hermione that ended any and all conversation. She slipped out a half filled piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink along with her potions book. Harry then remembered the essay from Snape and took out his book along with the same materials to start. He had never done this before, getting started early on an essay a week before it was due, he usually waited until last minute so he could mess around with Ron. The idea that this wouldn't be looming over his head felt good as he started writing.

He would compulsively glance up to Hermione, seeing her working diligently, her essay double the size of his as she scribbled away, sometimes pausing to check the book. He glanced back down to his chicken scratch, _she's not the best in our year for nothing._

"That's wrong," Hermione said suddenly, causing Harry to snap his head up with an eloquent, 'huh?' Hermione pointed to a line on his parchment, "Three leeches, not four. Also, you have to crush the moonstone to a power or else it won't react well with the fluxweed."

"Oh," Harry said, glancing down to his paper and crossing out his errors, rewriting her corrections, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, glancing back down to her own essay and reading to over while chewing on the end of her quill. Harry kept working on his essay, finding himself done in half the time it would have taken if he was with Ron, who would have kept whining about being bored or wanting to go play chess.

"Do you want me to look that over? For corrections?" Hermione asked. He looked up to see her hand out, a genuine look on her face and raised his eyebrows.

"You'd...you'd do that?"

"I wouldn't have offered," Hermione simply said with an eye roll, taking the parchment and setting it in front of her. He watched as she read it over, sometimes crossing things out and writing notes at the side. Harry watched her, still trying to figure her out. Did she have a craving for helping people or something? A couple of minutes later, she handed the parchment back to him, "Not bad."

"Thanks," he said, frowning as he found himself saying thank you to this girl more times than he had ever said to someone. The first draft of his potions essay was finished by the time they were leaving to go to dinner an hour later.

"We'll come here after Charms tomorrow," Hermione said, standing up and stretching a bit. Harry nodded and did the same, working out the kinks he had acquired from sitting in the chair. He felt good, though, since he didn't have to worry about his essay and with the corrections made and because he should get a good grade. Of course, Snape could always set it on fire and then say that Harry didn't turn it in. He grimaced at the thought and packed up his own things, placing them in his bag.

Hermione slung her bag over her shoulder and started toward the exit of the library, "See you."

"Granger," the girl stopped at his call and turned around to the 'Boy-Who-Lived' with an eyebrow raised in question. Once again, he said, "Thank you."

Harry watched as her lips twitched into a small grin and she nodded once, "You're welcome, and call me Hermione."

**-oOo-**

"He's _still _not talking to you?" Sirius asked through the mirror as Harry laid in his bed, curtains drawn, silencing charms in place for a quiet conversation. He was glad that Sirius had given him these mirrors that the Marauders used during detention. It was much easier to communicate with him or Moony whenever he needed someone to talk to. He really needed to talk to Sirius, but Moony was unavailable since he was curled up in the basement of Grimmauld due to the full moon.

"Nope. The whole school still thinks I put my name in, even some of the professors," Harry told his godfather, hearing the muttered cursing of 'all the arseholes at Hogwarts'. Harry couldn't agree more. As soon as he had walked into the dorm, he saw Ron sitting with Dean and Seamus, whispering and glancing over to him. It was easy to deduce that they were talking about him. Shaking his head in disgust at his former friend's behavior, Harry got dressed into his night-clothes and closed the curtains before calling Padfoot.

"I'm sorry, Pup. I wish there was something I could do to help."

Harry actually smiled a bit at this, "Actually, I think I do have help."

"Oh?"

"I was in the library and this girl, Hermione, offered to help me research spells."

"Oh?" Sirius asked again, sounding more interested this time since it was a girl, a mocking-lecherous grin on his face. "Well, tell me about this _Hermione_."

"Well, we've never really talked before. She's in Ravenclaw and easily the best in our year. She's scary smart, always answering questions in class. Everyone says that she's a 'know-it-all', but she really does know it all. She offered to help me."

"Is she cute?"

"Can you be serious for once?" Harry snapped, before realizing what he said. He groaned at the incoming inevitable joke in 3...2...1...

"I am Sirius all the time, Pup," the grim animagus was guffawing, making Harry roll his eyes, "But, really, is she?"

"I-I don't know, but I don't think I should be worrying about this right now. People have died in this tournament," Harry said desperately, promptly shutting his godfather up as he adopted a serious exrpression on his face.

"I wish that I could get you out of this. Whoever put you in this tournament is not your friend. Don't try to win this thing, research spells with this Hermione girl, and skid through. Who cares if you come in last, what good is eternal glory if you're dead."

Dead. The word twisted in his gut and he didn't feel like talking anymore. He just wanted to succumb to Morperus' embrace, hoping dreams about Voldemort allude him. "I'm going to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Good night, Pup."

"Night, Padfoot."

**-oOo-**

Hermione Granger was quite excited to help Harry Potter. She even woke up with a slight smile on her face, and it stayed with her the whole morning. She was in quite the chipper mood, Luna Lovegood even commented about Nargles not surrounding her head or something. She just smiled at her blonde Housemate, and ate her breakfast.

Hermione had a strong desire to be able to help anybody and anything that needed help, but had trouble with how to approach the things and that made her frustrated.

House Elves were one of the big issues she wanted to help with. She knew that she could not free the House Elves, considering their 'Master' needed to give them articles of clothing in order to, but she wanted at least equal rights for them. She had thought about starting a club to promote their welfare and start the road of getting them equality, but her unpopularity and students general disinterest would hinder it.

She also wanted to bring equal rights to all magical creatures. From the essay they were assigned the year before, and then with general curiosity, she knew that werewolves were essentially only a small step above House Elves to wizards, only House Elves get to work. Werewolves were looked down on, hence the reason Professor Lupin was fired, which was a shame because he was their best DADA teacher yet.

She had no idea how to go about it and usually made mistakes. First year she seemed to take to learning spells and wanted to help others in her class, but when she would approach them, but would come off bossy and they would normally just brush her off or make fun of her.

It was like primary school all over again, which disappointed her. She was incredibly happy when she realized that she was a witch, she _was _different and she would be going to school with other _different _kids. They would understand her, she would make friends, she would finally be happy. It didn't turn out that way for her, though.

The magical world was totally different from the 'mundane', and she felt as if she still didn't belong. She tried so hard to make friends, but she came off abrasive and immediately turned her classmates off, and she was once again alone.

She was excited for this opportunity to help Harry with the tournament. She held a quiet respect for the 'Boy-Who-Lived', even when he would laugh at Ronald Weasley's jokes about her. He never really made fun of her, but it did hurt when he would laugh at those who did. Now, he seemed to be on the receiving end of it, and she wanted to feel like it was some sort of victory, that he would finally know what it feels like, but instead she just felt pity. She also realized that she would be no better than him if she reveled in his rejection. She knew he didn't put his name in the Goblet, it was simple logic!

She realized that it was her chance to help someone in need, and that someone was none other than the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. _What a story to tell the kids one day_, she inwardly snorted as she glanced up to see Professor Flitwick dismissing class.

Glancing across the room, she saw Harry packing up his things, everyone shooting him dirty looks before walking out of the class. She even felt the pity welling up inside of her at that moment. She was used to rejection, but Harry didn't seem to be and wasn't taking it well, though trying to hide it. Hermione limped over to her favorite professor, wincing a bit. Her leg always seemed to be a little more sore when raining out.

Harry gave her a questioning look, but she just motioned with her head to walk over. The half-goblin glanced up at his star student along with the son of his former favorite student.

"Did you need something, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked.

He had remembered back in first year, her thirst for learning was so thrilling, and reminded him so much of Lily Evans. However, he knew that she didn't have many friends, and some of the other students picked on her. It was one of the reasons she was hurt in her first year. He was one of the Professors aside Minerva and Severus who took down the troll and found the little girl, lying in a pool of blood on the destroyed bathroom floor. The sight made him sick to his stomach, seeing one of his Eagles in that state, especially _that_ little Eagle.

The teasing only seemed to get worse as they had incentive with making fun of the way she walked with a limp, so Filius offered his room as a sanctuary for her. That was how he began teaching her advanced charms as she would master each quicker than the other students. She had the summoning and banishing charms down in her third year, which he would teach them this year.

He had taken to the young girl and was sure she would be his successor when he retired from Hogwarts. He was a little shocked to see her standing with Harry Potter, as he had never seen them together before. He didn't believe that the boy entered the tournament, and was quite shocked that everyone else did.

"I have to ask, do you believe that Harry put his name in the tournament?" Hermione asked her favorite teacher and Head of House, hoping that he didn't. When she saw him shake his head, she let out a short sigh of relief. With his help, things would be a lot easier.

"No, I don't. May I ask why you're asking?"

"No one else is helping him, everyone thinks he's a cheat. I've decided to help him, but we need..." Hermione trailed off, but saw understanding in her teacher's eyes.

"That's very admirable of you to do, Miss Granger. I'm assuming that you were looking for some books to help you," Filius smiled at Hermione shy nod, and pointed his wand behind her, levitating a couple of books over to his desk. Hermione noted that it was the standard Charms books for years 4-7.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, speaking up for the first time, the small teacher smiling. He saw the genuine appreciation in his eyes - _Lily's eyes _- but wanted to ask the boy something.

"Mr. Potter, may I have a word?" Flitwick asked, the boy nodding and glancing at Hermione.

"I'll just wait in the hall," Hermione said, scooping the books up and shuffling out the door. Professor Flitwick cast a silencing charm and turned back to the 'Boy-Who-Lived'.

"I have to tell you, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger is definitely the person that you want helping you with this. You are being genuine, right?" Harry noted that the Charms professor's tone was almost pleading. He was concerned about Hermione, and to ease his worries, Harry nodded.

"Yes, sir. I can't tell you how glad I was that Hermione offered to help me. I haven't really talked to her, but her doing this means a lot."

"I'm glad and neither I nor Professor McGonagall believe that you put your name in,"

"Thank you, but I wish I could say the same for my friends," Harry muttered bitterly, clenching his jaw.

"If they don't believe you over this, were they _really _your friends to begin with?" Harry stopped up short at his words, staring at the smiling Charms teacher, "Have a nice day, Mr. Potter."

Too baffled to speak, Harry nodded and walked out the door, seeing Hermione leaning against the wall and skimming through one of the books. She glanced up to him and gave a small smile, which he returned and held out his hands for the other three books in her arms. She handed him two instead of all and he realized that it was a show of independence, something he liked about her.

"Okay, I've also been reading up on the tournament, trying to compare the tasks to see if there were any similarities."

"Were there?" Harry asked Hermione, seeing her nod. They reached the library and took their seats at 'Hermione's spot', the Ravenclaw pulling out _Hogwarts: a History _from her bag, along with _History of the Tri Wizard Tournament_. Harry then pulled out parchment and ink to write notes, before taking a deep breath.

"I've found a connection, I think, but you tell me what you think. First, in the Tri-Wizard Tournament there's a standard of three tasks designed to test the Champion's courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, and magical ability. In 1792, the last Tri-Wizard Tournament, the first task was the Champions catching a Cockatrice. Unfortunately, it went on a rampage, injuring the Heads of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang." Hermione saw how Harry paled at his information and had to drop the ball, "Based on other similar first tasks involving Erumpents, Tebos, and Jobberknolls, I think that the first task involves a magical creature of some kind."

Harry wrote that down on a piece of parchment and nodded her to continue, "The second task of that year was about retrieving a special item that had been taken from each of the Champions from the forbidden forest."

_My firebolt,_ _my cloak, the map, _Harry thought about his three most important items and going into the forbidden forest to retrieve them. The Forbidden Forest full of centaurs, werewolves, vampires, and other dangerous creatures. He suppressed a shudder and nodded for her to continue again.

"The third task is the hardest and it's always different from what I've read, but it's usually a combination of wit, physical prowess, and displaying magical ability. It's also the most dangerous with the highest number of recorded deaths."

Harry copied it down, before just looking at the paper, the inevitability of the dangers he was going to face making his breathing quicken. Hermione just let Harry settle down, knowing no words of comfort would help him. He was going to risk his life for a tournament he didn't enter, what exactly could you say to make it better?

"I still need a place to train," Harry told Hermione, who just gave him a small grin that she hoped was reassuring.

"Well then, we'll just need a _room_ to fill your _requirement_s."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter**

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**Chapter 2**

"How is Mr. Potter doing?" Albus Dumbledore asked as he glanced around the table. Minerva was seated at his left, Filius next to her, while Severus and Pomona were on the other side. He had specifically called this meeting to find out about Harry and how the students were treating him. He had heard some terrible things from the portraits about his treatment.

"It seems that the whole school is convinced Mr. Potter has placed his name in the tournament. Some of the words they are calling him..." Minerva trailed off, her face turning solemn.

"Not the _whole_ school. It seems that one of my Eagles, Hermione Granger, has been helping him. She and Mr. Potter came looking for books to prepare for the tournament," Flilis said with blatant pride in his voice. Many of the Ravenclaws thought that Harry had put his name in, thanks in part to Cho Chang, but Hermione didn't allow them her views to be compromised by the House's favor.

"She's the brightest witch in the school. They should make a formidable team," Dumbledore admitted, his beard twitching as he grinned.

"Do we have any leads on who could have placed his name in the Goblet?" Pomona piped up, he eyes full of concern. She was one of the professors who thought that Harry did not put his name in the tournament, even though one of her own Badgers were in it. She was also disappointed with the way her House was acting.

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing. I've looked for a way to pull him out of the tournament, but Harry's name entry binded him. Whoever entered him is irrelevant," Dumbledore sadly admitted, regretting ever bringing back this tournament.

"The brat probably got an older student to do it," Snape muttered, all the other Heads rolling their eyes in irritation.

The Headmaster ignored the Potions Master's comment and his eyes twinkled at the thought of Harry and Miss Granger training together. Some of the portraits that were keeping an eye on Harry informed him of Harry and Miss Granger walking to the library after Charms class. She would help prepare him for the tournament and she would be a good influence on him as Ronald Weasley, bless his soul, was a hinderance. He was immature, selfish, and lazy and it had rubbed off on Harry quite a bit.

Maybe with Miss Granger's help, she could help him achieve the greatness he was born to.

**-oOo-**

"You want me to do _what_?"

Harry stared at Hermione after her odd instructions and considered her mental health for a second. Knowing that she was sane, he was sure that she was pulling a joke on him, but her face was dead serious which concerned him even more. She sighed deeply and repeated herself, "_I said_, I want you to walk up and down this corridor three times thinking 'I need someplace to train'."

He blinked once before asking, "Why?"

"Just...humor me," Hermione said, her patience wearing thin. Harry just shook his head and followed her instructions, thinking the sentence over and over again in his head. He felt ridiculous and waiting for Hermione to start bursting out laughing at him, but she just kept her eyes on a spot on the wall.

When he had finished pacing, he stopped in front of Hermione, "Now what?"

She just smiled and walked around him, right over to the spot she was staring at. It now had a door, that he knew wasn't there when he started pacing.

"Where...where did that come from?" Harry asked Hermione, who just smiled at him and opened the door. He followed her in the newly discovered room, before sucking in a short breath.

"Wow," Harry whispered as he and Hermione looked around, "What is this place?"

"It's called the Room of Requirement, or the Come-and-Go-Room. It's when someone really needs something. Like if you needed a place to sleep, you would pace the hallway three times, thinking about a bedroom and it would fill your requirements."

Harry glanced all around the room, some training dummies, bookshelves full of books, everything they would need to train. It was also quite large, the size of the Quidditch Pitch, giving him plenty of space. Harry saw that there was a fireplace with a plush deep blue couch in front of it that he assumed was for Hermione. Harry had only one word to describe the room, "Brilliant."

"Let's get started," Hermione said with a small smile. Harry nodded and followed Hermione over to a table, much like the ones int he library, and sat his things down next to hers.

"First things I think you should learn, and you won't learn this in Charms until later, the Summoning Charm. I think that it will probably help you in the tournament," Harry nodded his agreement.

"Okay, the incantation is _Accio_ and the name of the object. The movement is like this," Hermione created a horizontal half-moon curved upwards. "Professor Flitwick says that it's all about intent and picturing the exact object that you are trying to summon."

She walked over to her bag and took out a quill, before placing it on the ground a couple of steps away fro Harry. "Okay, Summon the quill."

Harry collected his thoughts and pointed his wand toward the quill, "_Accio quill!_"

The quill puffed off the ground a bit, but that was it. Harry was slightly disappointed and frowned, before looking up to Hermione's encouraging face.

"Try again," Hermione repeated after each failed attempt. They were going on ten minutes without success and Harry was getting more and more frustrated. She could see his hands shaking in agitation and his breathing shortening, which she knew wouldn't help his concentration.

"Er...okay, I know," Hermione walked over to Harry and stood next to him, "Close your eyes. Okay, now picture the quill in your mind, the color, the shape, the feel of it as you write. You want the quill to come to you, now make it!"

Harry pictured the quill in his mind, he saw it coming to him, he saw himself holding in his hand, he memorized what it looked like and snapped his eyes open, "_Accio quill!_"

The quill flew right into Harry's hand and he stared down at it with a large smile on his face, Hermione mirroring the expression.

"Good job. Let's try that again."

**-oOo-**

"I think that's enough for today," Hermione said after Harry had banished a training dummy across the room. She was jealous; while she had the knowledge in her corner, Harry had raw magical power behind him. He didn't pick up summoning and banishing as quickly as her, but he could summon and banish objects at further distances. More than being a little green with envy, she was a little proud of him.

Harry to admit that he was having fun learning these new spells and that Hermione was a good teacher. She gave him clear instructions and kept on his case in a second when he would whine and moan about him being 'hopeless'. He found it to be annoying when he was frustrated, but realized that it gave him a swift kick in the arse and got him going. She motivated him to keep going and to not quit. He couldn't help but think of Ron, and how he would have given up after a couple of failed attempts. Hermione didn't even give him that option.

Another thing, he was having fun for the first time since his named was pulled. He liked banishing and summoning, banishing things far away. He also liked seeing the impressed look on Hermione's face when he did so.

His mood dampened when he realized that they had to go to dinner. The night before, he sat alone at the Gryffindor table, everyone making sure to keep their distance from him like he was going to snap at any time. The first and second years gawked at him, the third years looked like they were being cautious, while the fourth through seventh years glared at him.

He was especially upset when the Quidditch team wouldn't say anything to him, not even the Weasley twins. To be honest, it seriously pissed him off, and he didn't know if he wanted them to talk to him anymore.

_"If they didn't believe you over this, were they _really _your friends to begin with?"_

Professor Flitwick's words seemed to be making a lot of sense to him. Were they really his friends, or did they just care about all the 'Boy-Who-Lived' fame?

He had glanced up and saw Hermione in almost the same situation as him, though her classmates weren't that far away from her. She was also sitting near a blonde girl, but they weren't talking to each other. She was ostracized from her own House, and he didn't know why. Who cares if she was bossy or because she was a 'know-it-all', she was a genuinely nice person. She was picked on constantly, and she didn't deserve it. He even laughed about it before, and it further fueled the karma idea. He was getting his comeuppance with all his friends being taken away.

He had another thought as he watched her eat her dinner; would it be better to be in Hermione's situation, where she didn't have that many friends to begin with, or to be in his and have them all taken away because of some stupid tournament?

_The grass is always greener..._

"I don't think I want to go to the Great Hall," Harry muttered.

Hermione looked up to Harry, remembering how he was being treated by his House at dinner. Truthfully, she didn't care to go down to the Great Hall anyway, "Well...why don't we go down, get our food, and then bring it back here?"

She saw his eyes brighten at the idea and he smiled, "I have a better idea. Dobby!"

With a crack, a house elf appeared, surprising Hermione, "Great Master Harry Potter calls Dobby!" the little elf squeaked out, bouncing up and down in excitement as he waited for his orders.

"Dobby this is Hermione Granger, Hermione, this is Dobby," the elf turned toward Hermione tentatively, before seeing the gentle smile on the witch's face.

"Hello, Dobby. How do you do?" Hermione said, offering the elf her hand to shake, but she wasn't prepared for the tears accompanying the introduction and thought she had done something wrong, until the elf opened his mouth.

"Great Master's Grangy treats Dobby kind," he said, tears falling from his tennis ball like eyes. Hermione was a little taken back from the name, but gently took Dobby's hand and shook it in greeting, the same soft smile on her face. Inside, she was fuming that an act of general politeness had such an impact on the elf. It also made her sad because it obviously wasn't normal of him to be treated like someone deserving of it, when he did.

"Dobby, could you go bring Hermione and I dinner?"

"It would be Dobby's honor to," he said before popping out. Harry and Hermione walked over to the table in the room and sat facing each other.

"You have a house elf?" Hermione asked, somewhat disappointed in Harry. It was what she stood against, and didn't know if she could continue to help Harry if he did have one.

"Oh, no, I uh, well, Dobby used to work for the Malfoy family," Harry said and Hermione grimaced at the thought of what _that family _probably did to the poor elf, "I...kind of...tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing him."

Hermione's eyes widened, the disappointment completely disappearing as she stared at Harry in admiration. "How?"

Before she could answer, Dobby popped back in with two plates full of food, along with utensils, two plates of treacle tart, and two goblets of pumpkin juice. Harry thanked Dobby with a large smile, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at how Dobby straightened up slightly at the gratitude, looking incredibly accomplished.

"Thank you, Dobby," Hermione told the elf, whose cheeks took on a rosy hue as he wrung his hands in front of him.

"It was Dobby's pleasure, Master's Grangy," he said, before popping away. Hermione wrinkled her nose at the name, before grabbing the fork and following Harry's lead, digging into the food.

"How much do you know about what happened in second year?" Harry asked, a couple of minutes after they started eating.

Hermione finished chewing before answering him, "Well, I was one of the students petrified. I heard that you opened the Chamber of Secrets, went down into it with Ron Weasley and Professor Lockhart, used Gryffindors sword to kill the Basilisk, were bitten in the process, almost died, but Dumbledore's Phoenix saved you."

Harry startled at the first piece of information she said. He then remembered how she was petrified alongside Penelope Clearwater because she was inside the castle during the Qudditch match.

He laughed at the other information, since the crazy rumors seemed to spread around the school, and shook his head, "Most of that is fabricated. I did nothing that heroic as it was pretty anti-climactic actually. After everyone started getting petrified, I tried to figure out what the monster was. I figured that if was Slytherin's chamber, then the beast would be a snake. That was the most amount of time I had ever spent in a library, looking for what kind of snake it could be. I found it in _Most Macabre Monstrosities _about the Basilisk, the King of Snakes, which can kill with a stare. Since everyone didn't see it head on, it only petrified them."

Hermione smiled, impressed with him that he was able to figure it out. She never really believed the whole 'Heir of Slytherin' rubbish. He didn't look menacing when talking to that snake during the duel with Malfoy, he looked desperate to stop it from attacking Justin.

All she could remember about her petrification was yellow eyes in the mirror after she was walking back from the library. Everyone was at the Quidditch game, but she was never a fan so stayed inside. She ran into Penelope Clearwater, who offered to escort her back to the common room. When she had gone home, she knew that her parents would pull her out of Hogwarts, so she just omitted the fact that she was petrified to them. She loved being a witch too much and it took months of begging to them to not pull her out after the troll incident.

"I told Professor Dumbledore, who confirmed it from the portraits and he called Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE. She and a couple of Aurors came to the school and since I'm the only one who can open the chamber because I'm a parselmouth, we all went into the chamber.

"I read that the crow of a rooster is fatal to a Basilisk and Dumbledore used to teach Transfiguration so he transfigured a rooster. When we got into the chamber, we found Ginny Weasley unconscious and a boy in Slytherin robes. The Aurors tried to arrest him, but he wasn't corporeal, all their spells went right through him. Professor Dumbledore called him 'Tom', and the boy showed that his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is an anagram for 'I am Lord Voldemort'. It was him in his sixteen year old form from when the chamber was last opened and it killed a student. Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, and a parselmouth.

"Tom was using his diary to bring himself back, using Ginny's life. When he tried to release the basilisk, the rooster crowed and it just dropped dead. Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, delivered the sorting hat and I pulled Gryffindor's sword out of it and Dumbledore told me to stab the diary. When I did, it 'killed' Riddle, but Voldemort is still out there.

"Apparently Ginny was being controlled all year by Riddle through the diary that was slipped to her by Lucius Malfoy in Flourish and Blotts. After that happened, I went to Dumbledore's office and saw Lucius there with Dobby. After they left, I slipped my sock into the diary and gave it to Lucius, saying that he forgot it, who then gave it to Dobby-"

"If you give your elf an article of clothing, then they're freed. Wow...Harry, that's...that's still incredibly heroic! You know how many people you probably saved? You probably saved Dobby's life as well!"

Harry just shrugged shyly, a pink color tinting his cheeks, "It wasn't just me. It was Professor Dumbledore, Madam Bones, and those Aurors."

"Don't sell yourself short. I don't think I would have the courage to do what you did," Hermione saw Harry blushing under her praise, so she changed the subject so she didn't make him uncomfortable, "Wait why wasn't it put all over newspapers?"

"Professor Dumbledore and Madam Bones agreed it would cause more panic than needed, so they kept it under wraps."

"What about in first year? You went against Voldemort then, right?"

"No, not exactly. You heard about the Cerberus guarding the stone, right?" she nodded and he went on to explain every single 'test' they had to go through, watching as her eyes became wide and wider, "I couldn't get past the last 'test', a logic puzzle, but Professor Dumbledore found us and brought us back. We thought that Snape was trying to steal the stone, but Snape wasn't even in the castle at the time. Hermione, I'm about to tell you something I've never told anybody and I'm not really supposed to tell anybody, so you can't tell anybody about anything I've told you and what I'm about to tell you."

Hermione saw his grave look and nodded, taking out her wand, "I, Hermione Jane Granger, swear on my magic to never disclose any information that Harry Potter has entrusted to me to anyone without his permission, so mote it be."

Harry's jaw dropped as a white light surrounded Hermione before disappearing, "What the hell was that?"

"A magical oath," Hermione said, but Harry just stared at her with a blank look, "You've never heard of magical oaths?"

"No."

"Well, if I ever tell anybody what you're about to tell me or anything you've told me that you don't want me to, then I'll lose my magic."

"What?! Why would you do that?!"

"So you know that I won't tell anybody. Now you know that I'll never tell anybody," she then frowned, "You know, you should have just sworn a magical oath when your name came out of the goblet. There would be no way for people to not believe you then."

"How would I do that?"

"'I, state your name, swear on my magic that I did not enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament, so mote it be.' Then you would do the lighting spell or whatever you wanted to prove that you still have your magic and in turn, weren't lying. We've gotten off topic," Hermione said, watching as Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Right. Voldemort was sharing a body with Professor Quirrel the whole year. His face was in the back of his head and he was using unicorn blood to preserve him, to give him strength, to keep him alive."

"That's why he would sometimes talk to himself," Hermione muttered, before glancing back up, "Did Dumbledore know that whole time that Voldemort was 'in' the guy teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"He told me, and I quote, 'I believe the saying is to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'. He felt better knowing where Voldemort was, where he could watch him, instead of him being out there and doing..."

"Wow," Hermione breathed out, in awe of what this boy had to go through in the past. She couldn't even imagine going through all that, and being able to live to talk about it.

"Anyway, Quirrel eventually died because he couldn't get the stone as it was safe in the Mirror of Erised. The mirror is-"

"I know what it is," Hermione said, having read about it in passing before.

"Right, well it was in the mirror and Quirrel had no idea how to get it, so supporting not only his soul, but Voldemorts spirit, put too much strain on his body and he just dropped dead one day. His 'spirit' is still out there, though."

Hermione was in awe as she looked at the boy sitting across from her, chewing on a piece of treacle tart like they had been talking about the weather. She used to have a quiet respect for him, but that respect has shot up off the scale with all that he had done.

"Why did you seem disappointed when you thought that I had an elf?"

Hermione smiled somewhat sheepishly, "I want to work on getting equal rights for elves. Well, not just elves, but werewolves, centaurs, and giants. All magical creatures who are treated lower than their worth. I'm looked down upon because I'm muggleborn and I know that, if this world doesn't change its views, I might be denied job opportunities in the future. Like Professor Lupin, he was the greatest defense professor we've ever had, but fired because of his lycanthropy, that's not his fault and furthermo-why are you smiling?"

"Professor Lupin was one of my dad's best friends. I actually live with him and my godfather, Sirius. You heard about last year, right?" at her nod, he continued, "I think he would like your views and so would my godfather. They would support you wholeheartedly."

"He was our best teacher. He didn't use Unforgivables on us," Hermione grimaced, remembering Professor Moody casting the Imperius on them during their lesson. She then shook her head, "Enough heavy stuff...why don't we play the question game?"

"How do you play?"

"You ask a question, I answer; I ask a question, you answer and so on and so forth. It's a way to get to know someone better, so you ask simple questions like favorite color, food, etc."

"Okay, you start," Harry said to Hermione as he wiped his hands on the napkin Dobby provided.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Red...what's your favorite food?"

The two went back and forth, answering each other's questions, finding out their likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. Harry had never done this before and liked finding out things about Hermione, who was taking the time to get to know him. He sometimes felt like people assumed that they already knew him because of the 'Boy-Who-Lived' fame, but Hermione just wanted to know Harry, and he appreciated it.

"What are your parents like?" Harry asked Hermione, after hearing her talk about her mum.

"They're both dentists and they own their own practice in Kent. Everyone always says I look exactly like my mum, but I have my dad's eyes-what's so funny?"

Harry was still chuckling, "Everyone always says that I look exactly like my dad, but I have my mum's eyes. It's the opposite."

"All of my mum's friends say that I'm her mini, since we're both bookworms. She's also my best friend...is that pathetic?"

"Not at all," Harry said, shaking his head with smile. He was happy that Hermione had a good relationship with her parents, and also a little jealous. Knowing those thoughts wouldn't get him anywhere, he shook his head. "How do you know so much already? The Charms, the spells..."

"Professor Flitwick taught me many of them already."

"Really?"

"He is my Head of House. Whenever I...I was teased and I didn't want to be in the Great Hall, I would go to Professor Flitwick's and he would teach me all advanced Charms. His classroom was a sanctuary...still is and then he showed me this place, where I could escape to," Hermione admitted quietly, that lapsed them into a pregnant silence. Harry squirmed a bit, before raising his eyes to Hermione.

"Can I ask you what happened Halloween in first year?" Harry asked, his voice barely audible over the cackling of the fire.

The witch gave a sad smile, before looking down at her lap. Harry was about to tell her that it was okay to not tell him, but she started anyway, "I ran right to the bathroom after I heard Ron's words, I stayed in there all day...I heard a loud noise and a smelled a really bad stench. When I walked out of the stall, I came face to face with an eleven foot forest troll. I screamed and he started swinging his club wildly, blocking the exit. I kept evading him and he was getting frustrated and then I saw an opening to the door. I tried to take it, but the troll saw and swung his club.

"He caught me and it threw me into the wall...I lost consciousness after that but Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape found me. I woke up in the hospital wing a week later with a broken leg, broken arm, cracked ribs, and a concussion. I was lucky I didn't crack my skull open...but I guess I had pretty good padding with all this bushy hair," she half-heartedly joked, trying to smile that came out as more of a grimace.

"Madam Pomfrey healed everything okay, but she had some difficulty with my leg, hence the limp."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry felt as if he had been punched in the gut. That must have been terrifying for her, and no one thought to go check on her. He never even gave her a second thought on Halloween. He was a selfish git and he felt shame. Shame like he had never felt before, "I'm so sorry. I should have stopped Ron from talking, I should have come for you, I could-"

"Woulda, coulda, shoulda," Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring Harry's surprised look, "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't live in the past, or it will eat you alive. All you can do is pick yourself up and move forward."

Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost curfew.

"I guess we should head back," Harry sighed, not wanting to leave just yet. "I had fun."

"Me too," Hermione said with a smile, "We should...do this again."

"Definitely," Harry agreed. Both of them cleaned up their things, Dobby popping in to bring the plates, goblets, and utensils back to the kitchens. Harry and Hermione grabbed their things and walked to the door. They walked together in a comfortable silence, all the way to where they separate to go to their towers.

"Good night, Hermione."

"Good night, Harry."

**-oOo-**

Harry had a smile on his face as he strolled back to the Gryffindor tower, feeling the perpetual weight on his shoulders growing even lighter with each step. He wasn't even dreading walking into the tower where he knew the glares and stares would wait for him. As soon as he walked into the dorm, he saw that it was empty, save for Neville Longbottom. He walked over to his bed, stopping up short when he heard Neville's timid voice.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Neville."

"Listen, I j-just want you to know that...I thought about it and I don't believe that you put your name in. I'm sorry for believing it at first though and I don't expect you to forgive me, but I really am sorry," Neville said quietly, not meeting Harry's gaze.

The green-eyed boy studied Neville, who was fidgeting nervously, but trying to be brave. He was close to snapping and asking why he didn't defend him or at least speak up for him, when he remembered how shy and insecure Neville was. He sighed and nodded his head with a small smile, extending his hand.

"Thanks, Neville."

The slightly pudgy boy took Harry's hand and shook it, nodding his head, "I tried talking to Ron, to get him to see reason...you can probably guess how that went."

"Don't worry about it," Harry shook him off, before throwing his things in his trunk and starting to get ready for bed.

Harry felt himself changing through all of this. He wasn't sure if he would even want to be friends again with all who abandoned him after the tournament. He wasn't sure if he could forgive them, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to. If they were true friends, they would have taken his word for it, right?

**-oOo-**

It was a couple of days later that the whole school, minus a few like Hermione and Neville, had been wearing badges that read _'Support Cedric Diggory, the true Hogwarts Champion'_ before switching to the ever clever _'Potter Stinks'_. They had taunted him as they showed him the badges, though her had ignored it quite well. It was just an irritation. Neville had taken a seat across from Harry in the Great Hall the day after he apologized, showing his views. People were now glaring at him as well.

Glancing across the table, he saw Hermione eating her lunch at the Ravenclaw table, the fifth year Charms book in her hand as she diligently read, researching spells for him. _For_ him.

They had been training in the Room of Requirement every night and he had already had the Summoning and Banishing Charms down. They had started on the Blasting Hex with training dummies, which Harry liked as it helped him vent out a lot of frustration. He figured it was just regular teenaged boy stuff with blowing things up. When he told this to Hermione, he smiled when she just rolled her eyes and muttered, _"Boys."_

He kept questioning why he had never tried to get to know her, why he had never tried to befriend. She was a genuinely nice person, someone who should have millions of friends around her. He had liked talking to her in the Room of Requirement, he had liked training with her, and found himself excited to do it again every day.

Shifting his eyes, he saw some fellow schoolmates averting their stares when they saw him looking and he sighed in annoyance. He remembered Hermione's magical oath and a small smile tugged at his lips. Summoning all of his Gryffindor courage, he stood up on the table, capturing the attention of everyone in the Hall. He saw Professor Dumbledore regarded him curiously, while the other Professors looked like they wanted to snap at him to get down.

He caught Hermione's eye at the Ravenclaw table and smiled, before yelling, "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that I did _not_ enter the Tri-Wizard tournament and that I did _not_ have anybody enter my name for me, so mote it be. _Expecto Patronum!_"

A stag burst from Harry's wand, proving that Harry was telling the truth. The Patronus pranced around the Hall for a bit, before disappearing. The Hall was stunned into silence, no one daring to talk, no one eating, all of them were gaping at Harry.

The Gryffindors squirmed in their seats as they realized that there was no way the 'cheater' could go around a magical oath, as displayed when he produced his Patronus. Cedric Diggory, who was torn between wanting to defend Harry to his friends, and believing that he put his name in, was reevaluating his choices.

Everyone watched as Harry got down from the table and shouldered his bag, before walking right over to the Ravenclaw table, stopping in front of know-it-all bookworm, Hermione Granger.

"Are you ready for Potions?"

Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts and couldn't help but give Harry a small smile, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking out of the stunned Great Hall with Harry. They walked to Potions with smiles on their faces, before Hermione commented, "That was brilliant."

She saw that he looked quite satisfied with himself and he caught her look. They both laughed as they made their way toward the dungeons.

**-oOo-**

All the Gryffindors were in tense silence during Potions as they brewed the Draught of Peace. They looked like they wanted to say something to Harry, but he never paid any attention to them. He and Hermione decided to partner up together and brewed a perfect potion that Snape couldn't even sneer at, though he did try to accuse Harry of copying off Hermione's work.

They had received their grades for their essays and Harry immediately smiled when he saw his. He glanced up to see the greasy git sneering at him, but couldn't find it in him to care. He and Hermione cleaned up their station and walked out of class after they were dismissed.

"How did you do?" Hermione asked and Harry handed over the essay, displaying his 'Exceeds Expectations' grade. She frowned when she saw the grade, handing the essay back to Harry. "Oh, I thought that it was O worthy."

"I don't care about that, this is the first EE I've gotten on an essay in his class. Thanks, Hermione," Harry said with a broad grin, which Hermione couldn't help but return, ignoring the fluttering of her stomach as she looked at him.

"You're welcome," she smiled, both of them lapsing into silence as they walked down the hallway. Hermione kept giving Harry side-glances, before finding it within her to ask him a question she had been wanting to.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" she asked and at his nod, she continued, "Could...could you teach me..."

"Teach you what?"

"The Patronus Charm."

Harry stopped up short walking, causing Hermione to stop as well. He glanced over a little unsure, but saw her looking at him hopefully and knew that this could be his chance to start repaying her for helping him. With a large smile, he nodded, "Sure."

Another perk of agreeing was that it put a large excited smile on Hermione's face, he felt the corners of his lips quirking at the sight. He was basking in the good emotions he was feeling, until they heard a loathed voice, "Well, look at this riff-raff: Scarhead hanging out with the Mudblood. You know, I didn't think you could find anyone worse than the Weasel to hang out with, I guess I was wrong."

They turned to see Malfoy standing there, everlasting sneer present on his face, only it was more prominent as he looked at Hermione, 'the Mudblood'. His two bodyguards were at their posts, Crabbe and Goyle laughing at their boss' 'clever words'.

Harry glared at Malfoy the name that he called Hermione actually sparking his temper for once. Someone's circumstances of birth had no effect on the kind of person they were...actually, it might, considering most of the purebloods he knew were arseholes. His hand itched toward his wand and he was about to snap back, before Hermione opened her mouth.

"You know, I wouldn't talk about people to hang out with tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum flanking you there, Malfoy," Hermione said, and Harry had to grin at her words as he saw Crabbe and Goyle share a confused look. Malfoy's face had darkened to a shade of red, his face curling into a snarl as he looked at Hermione as if she was dirt at the bottom of his shoe.

"How dare you speak to me, filthy little Mudblood."

"Don't you dare call her that," Harry seethed at Malfoy, his wand now in his hand while Malfoy took out his own. Getting to know Hermione over the week and then hearing Malfoy call her that made something snap in him. Malfoy was a prick, simple fact, but he had to resist the urge to beat him to a pulp. He was only stopped by a soft hand on his arm.

"It's okay, Harry. He can't help that they're the only words he knows. Oh wait, you also know, 'Wait till my father hears about this!' Malfoy, your lack of vocabulary is just proof how breeding within lines is harmful to brain function," Hermione said, causing Harry to laugh at the look on Malfoy's face. He and Hermione walked around the the three goons.

_"Densaugeo!"_

They weren't even prepared for the spell, because only a coward curses someone behind their back. It hit Hermione in the back of the head, causing her to stumble forward and fall to her knees. She felt her two front teeth start growing and started whimpering in panic and fear.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled in concern, before turning around to see a smug looking Malfoy. Something snapped as he saw his ferret looking face satisfied and Hermione on the ground. He pointed his wand to the unassuming Malfoy as he was still celebrating his victory and all but roared, "_Furnunculus_"

Malfoy's perfect alabaster skin turned red as huge painful boils started popping all over his body, appearing on his face, neck, hands, and arms. He started screeching like a little girl, which alerted some of the Professors to come over. Many students had already gathered around to watch the show, while Harry walked over to Hemione and helped her up. He winced as he saw her teeth were growing below her hands as she tried to cover them up.

Professors Flitwick and Snape came rushing over to see the commotion, the Head of Slytherin bearing a snarl on his face as he looked at the spawn of James Potter, "Potter! A hundred points from Gryffindor and a weeks detention for attacking a student!"

"What about him? He cursed Hermione! Look!" Hermione was completely embarrassed but raised her head and removed her hand for Snape to see the evidence.

"I see nothing different with Miss Granger's appearance," Snape sneered with a yellow-toothed smile, which brought tears to the witch's eyes. It was one thing for a student to make fun of her, they were immature and stupid, but for a Professor - an authority figure that she was supposed to trust - to do it, it fractured Hermione's already small confidence as she sobbed and ran toward the infirmary.

Harry stared at his hated Professor with green eyes that were glowing with magical energy. He didn't care what Snape said about him, he could handle it, but when he insulted Hermione, it set Harry off. He started charging to Snape, only to be stopped by a body coming between them. Harry was about to shove whoever it was out of the way, his magic cackling from his finger tips, before he heard something break through the foggy red haze of his mind, "Mate, go to Hermione. She needs you."

He looked up and saw Neville Longbottom, who was the one who stopped him from attacking Snape. He reluctantly nodded his head and with a last glare to the greasy git, took off in the direction Hermione ran. Neville glanced down to the still shrieking Draco Malfoy and smirked, knowing that he had gotten what was coming to him.

"Severus!" Professor Flitwick snapped, the half-goblin looking enraged that the Potions Master just insulted his favorite little Eagle, "That was out of line!"

"Yes, it was," a calm voice said and everyone turned to see the Headmaster, looking sternly at Snape, his usual twinkly blue eyes seemed cold. "My office, Severus. Now."

**-oOo-**

It was a still shocked Harry that walked into the library the day after the Malfoy incident. The points Snape took off were put right back on and Professor Flitwick assured him that there would be no detention for him. He also thanked Harry for defending Hermione, disclosing that he was close to challenging the greasy git to a duel for what he said.

Harry walked right over to 'Hermione's table' where he found the bushy haired witch already with a couple of books open, scribbling something down. He had followed her to the infirmary the day before where she had gotten her teeth shrunk by Madam Pomfrey. He had noticed they were a little smaller than before, but didn't comment on it. It was one of the things that she was picked on for, and given the chance to get rid of his scar, he would take it.

He thought that her smile was okay before, but now it was really nice looking. However, all warm and fuzzy thoughts were gone and replaced by pessimistic ones as he remembered his and Hagrid's expedition, where he had seen what the first task was going to be.

"Dragons," Harry whispered as soon as he took a seat next to Hermione, the girl raising her head with a confused look.

"What?"

"The first task, I have to face a dragon."

She blinked once, before realization dawned on her face, "A dragon?!" Hermione shrieked, Harry wincing as the volume cut through the silence like a knife.

"SHHH!"

Hermione snapped her head up to see Madam Pince with her finger over her lips in a shushing motion, glaring right at Harry and Hermione, the latter of whom mouthed 'sorry'. The bushy haired witch whipped her head around to Harry, "You have to fight a _dragon_?"

"I don't know, all I know is that there are going to be dragons in the first task."

"Come on," Hermione said, quickly packing up her things and shoving them in her bag. She grabbed Harry's arm and started pulling him out of the library, her legs moving at a fast rate that made her limp a little more prominent. She didn't let go of his arm all the way to the Room of Requirement and Harry found himself not minding the contact.

Once there, Hermione paced the corridor and Harry found a nice room with a plush couch and a roaring fire, a coffee table in front of it with a vase of roses, the same color as Hermione's House. There were a couple of bookshelves in the room, but before he could analyze the room even more, Hermione dragged him over to the couch and pushed him down, before plopping next to him.

"Okay, well, I don't think they're going to make you catch a dragon, but maybe they'd make you get past it to retrieve something...well, you have the Summoning Charm down. You could maybe just summon the object, but I have a feeling they'll put anti-Summoning Charms on them," Hermione thought aloud, slightly panicking when no ideas were coming to her. Usually she had an answer for everything, but she was speechless. The extent of how dangerous the tournament was going to be for him. Dragons, fire-breathing dragons that could incinerate him at any moment during the bloody task.

"We'll figure something out," Harry said, though didn't sound completely sure himself. Hermione just nodded and placed her hand over his, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah, we will."

* * *

**A/N: Hermione's middle name is Jane in this story. I tried to turn Dumbledore into a good guy. I tried so hard to turn his dumbass decisions into good ones. I hope that I succeeded.**

**Next Chapter: More preparations, more bonding time for Harry and Hermione, and the First Task.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I was disappointed with myself. I was trying to make the first task a little different, but my muse wasn't giving me anything. Last night I post this chapter - not happy with it - go to sleep, wake up and BAM, an idea forms in my head. So, I rewrote the whole thing. I hope you like this better.**

**No, I'm not going to bash Ron, but I'm going to shove him to the side. There is also a difference between bashing and **_**using**_** him in the plot. Let's face it, in canon, he is a jealous prat who acts and speaks before he engages his brain. That's how he'll be played in the story and his actions will reflect that.**

**I'm not going to bash Dumbledore, AT ALL. This is going to be a sensible Dumbledore.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Hermione heard him whoop again as he performed that...oh, what did he call it? Something odd sounding and it looked incredibly dangerous where you dove towards the ground and pulled up at the very last second. Nearly gave her a heart attack when she had first seen him do it. He then had a taste of how a book can be used outside of reading with her assault on him. He was just laughing while she berated him for doing something so reckless, so foolish, so _Gryffindor!_

"Ah, my dear, but I _am _a Gryffindor," he had said, dodging her bibliophilius assault. She had half a mind to use Banishing Charms with her assault, but the endearment had somewhat melted her anger. She knew it was in jest, but a girl could dream, couldn't she?

They've been trying to research something for the first task, and Hermione decided to look int he restricted section with that pass that Madam Pince gave her in confidentiality. She knew Hermione quite well from all the times she was in the library and knew that girl thirsted for knowledge like a thirsty man in the desert, so she entrusted a restricted section pass to her, knowing that she would use it well.

Hermione was even looking up ancient spells, trying to find _something_ for Harry to use. She had heard in passing from Cho Chang's little group that Cedric was going to use transfiguration.

_'Yes, and your little boyfriend wouldn't know about the dragons if it wasn't for Harry,' _Hermione thought, remembering how Harry walked over to talk to the 'true Hogwarts Champion' while they were walking to the RoR. Cedric looked utterly pale, before hurrying off toward the greenhouses to find his head of House.

Harry had this asinine idea of _out flying _a dragon. That was another reason to hit him, and she did -_ lightly_ - over the head with her planner. She shook her head at the Gryffindor and went back to her reasearch, but was coming up short...and she was getting frustrated.

"Anything?" Harry asked as he flew over, still wary of her book assault if he said something stupid. She looked up and shook her head, he could tell that she was exasperated, bordering frustrated. _'She really needs to loosen up,' _he thought, before he had an idea.

"Hey, do you want to go for a ride?" Harry asked, seeing that she looked incredibly uncertain as he held out his hand for her. She looked and forth between his hand and face a couple of times, nibbling on her bottom lip, before dropping her gaze and mumbling something the he couldn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

"I said, I hate heights," Hermione said meeting his eyes, a blush coloring her cheeks like she was embarrassed. Harry swooped down more until he was right next to her. He reached his hand reached down to hers and grasped it, gently tugging her off her seat and behind him.

"No better way of conquering your fears than facing them," Harry said, Hermione's expression still uncertain. "Come on, it'll be fine. I promise."

He added, what he hoped was, puppy dog eyes and even pouted his bottom lip out for good measure. It seemed to work because her face crumbled and she sighed deeply, swinging her leg over and mounting the broom behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and when he was sure she was set, he kicked off a bit. She squeaked in surprise and her hold around his waist tightened. Harry registered that it certainly wasn't uncomfortable and her body heat felt quite good against his back.

"Please, don't let me fall," she whispered softly into his back. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it, or if it was a silent prayer to a deity, but he answered anyway.

"Never."

**-oOo-**

"So? So?"

"Okay, okay...I had fun," Hermione admitted, laughing at Harry's childish pestering. He whooped in victory and pumped his fist in the air, making her laugh even harder.

She had to admit she enjoyed being on the back of the broom with someone controlling it then actually in control of the broom. Harry was the youngest Quidditch player in a century too and a natural at flying, so it definitely helped ease her fears. She could have sworn he promised, 'Never' when she pleaded that he not let her fall. She hadn't meant for him to hear her and she wasn't sure if he did, but she hoped that was really what he said and not a figment of her imagination.

The ride itself was exhilarating and hanging on to Harry was...confusing. Confusing because it felt so good. She held on to him for dear life, burying her face in his back and listening to his heartbeat when they were up high.

She noted that he also smelled really good, like grass and something else, but she discreetly took gulps of his scent when close to him. He was laughing the whole way and she could tell that flying filled him with joy that she could never understand. She guessed that she could compare it to receiving a new book or getting good grades in her classes.

They were walking up the path towards the entrance when a pair of red-headed twins blocked their way, their usually bright and mischievous faces were solemn.

"Harry," they both said at the same time, Harry noticing that even their voices were flat.

"Fred, George," he said, his jaw locked as he met their gaze with a head held high. Their abandonment was one of the ones that stung the most, considering that they always considered Harry a brother to them.

"Do you want me to go?" Hermione whispered, feeling uncomfortable with the staring match and to be in the presence of anything that shared blood with Ron Weasley.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head vehemently, before turning back to the twins. "What do you two want?"

Surprisingly, they dropped to their knees and looked up with apologetic eyes, "We acted like arses-"

"-and we don't expect you to forgive us-"

"-we wouldn't forgive us if they situation was reversed-"

"-but we just wanted to apologize to you for believing that you entered."

"Truthfully, we were a little jealous since we wanted to enter-"

"-but we realized that we shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"So, what we're trying to say is-"

"We're sorry, Harry," they finished in unison.

Harry was surprised to see the twins so serious. They both looked at him, waiting for an answer, their faces showing blatant guilt and sorrow at their abandonment. Not exactly sure what to say, he turned to Hermione, but saw that she had a shocked look on her face, he assumed was from their impeccable way to finish each others thoughts and sentences. He turned back to the twins.

"Give me a little bit of time to forgive, but I do appreciate this, guys. Thanks," said Harry, the twins standing up and dusting the grass off their trousers. They flicked their eyes from Hermione to Harry, back and forth a couple of times, growing smiles on their faces. Harry frowned, before it clicked in his brain, "Oh! Guys, this is Hermione Granger, fourth year Ravenclaw."

"Nice to meet you," Hermione said, still wary as they were related to the cretin that almost got her killed when she was twelve. It was a natural reaction to not trust anything with the name Weasley attached to it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger," they said, each taking one of her hands and placing the kiss on the back of it like chivalrous gentlemen.

"We'll see you guys later," Harry said, him and Hermione continuing back up to the castle, the twins watching them go with growing grins on their faces. George turned to look at his brother, his grin turning into a smirk.

"What do you say to a bet, uglier brother of mine?"

"I say five galleons that they're together by Christmas hols, and I will say it again, you're just jealous of my good looks," Fred said, before shaking his brother's hand.

**-oOo-**

"Think of the happiest memory you can, it has to be the happiest as the Patronus runs on positive emotions," Harry told Hermione, who was frowning as she tried to follow what he said.

Hermione frowned as she realized that she didn't really have any good memories. Her early primary school years were full of bullying and sadness, her early Hogwarts years were full of bullying and sadness. She thought about using the memory when she found out that she was a witch, but that was tainted with the memories of her early Hogwarts days. She was so innocent and naïve back then, thinking that Hogwarts was going to solve all of her problems.

She thought about using her memories of her parents and her love for them, and she did love them, but sometimes they did many things out of pity. They would take her on vacations every year, but she saw the looks they gave her when she would prefer to stay in and read instead of go out with friends. They loved Hermione, she knew that, but the pity was unbearable. It seemed that everyone in her life, including herself, had these expectations of her. Her parents wanted her to be more sociable and have friends, she herself wanted to get perfect grades and she also wanted to make friends, but no one accepted her for her.

Friends. She looked over to Harry, who was waiting patiently, an encouraging smile on his face. Her friend, Harry. She could call him that, right? She wouldn't have dared to call him that a month ago. They were friends though, right? From what she observed, Friends help each other in times of need, friends are there for one another to talk to, friends listen to problems and help you figure them out, friends have fun with each other.

Hermione knew she wasn't exactly the funnest girl in the world, but she had been having fun with Harry in the couple of weeks. They had laughed a bit and Hermione felt like she was shedding the protective layers she had put up when she learned how cruel people truly were. She was actually joking with Harry and laughing at jokes she would have considered juvenile. Harry was changing her, for the better, and she also thought that she was changing him quite a bit.

What scared her was how scared she was that he was going to leave her. She was scared that after the first task, his friends would 'see the error of their ways' and 'take him back' and he would believe them, leaving her once more. The last couple of weeks had been the greatest of her life. She was scared by how much she _needed _Harry, a boy who a month ago had forgotten she existed.

However, she focused on their time spent together, their laughs shared, and their broom ride that he took her on. She smiled at the warmth filling her, copulating with her magical energy as it built and built, growing stronger and stronger, before shifting to her wand, ready to burst.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

While the Patronus was non-corporeal, and it wasn't all _that_ bright, it was still brighter than what Harry had done on his first time and he was incredibly impressed with the witch. He was slightly envious with how quick she was able to grasp things and wanted to know what her secret was. Was it her determination? Was she motivated by something? He wished that he had paid more attention in his first couple years of school, maybe actually try to make friends with her, and he would have been a better student.

She had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead from the amount of magical energy she used and she was breathing like she had run around a bit, but he knew how tiring it could be and summoned the bar of chocolate from his bag.

"Wow...I wasn't even that good on my first time. Good job," Harry told Hermione, who smiled and tried to catch her breath. He was curious, "What memory did you use?"

Hermione blanched in horror. What would he say if he knew that she used memories of her time spent with him. What would he think of her. Would he think that she was weird? Would he think that she had no life? Well, it was a fact that she didn't really have a life, well, not until his name was pulled out of that Goblet. How pathetic that probably one of the worst day's of Harry's life, was one of the best for her.

"Er, w-well...it's kind of personal," Hermione stuttered through her explanation.

"Oh, no I'm sorry that I asked. It's fine," Harry said, before walking back over to their table. He smiled like the cat that ate the canary, "I taught Hermione Granger something, I taught Hermione Granger something!"

"Yes, well, miracles do happen, you know," Hermione said in a haughty tone, laughing at the faux-offended look on Harry's face.

**-oOo-**

"Harry!" Hermione yelled as she burst into the Room of Requirement, ignoring the ache in her leg as she ran over to him, seeing him blowing up training dummies. _'Boys,'_ she thought with an eye roll. She set her thing down on the table and Harry turned to her.

"What's up, Hermione?

"I found it! The spell you could use for the task," Hermione said, watching as Harry visibly inflated and his face brightened.

"Let's hear it."

**-oOo-**

"Hey, Harry."

"Hey, Hermione."

No more words needed to be said. No more words could be said. Harry was about to face a dragon, a dangerous creature, and he could die. One wrong move, and then it could be all over. They met in the Great Hall for breakfast, Fred and George sat close to Harry, along with Neville and Hermione, due to Harry's insistence. She felt a little uncomfortable with all the Gryffindors looking at her oddly, but took her seat next to a shaking Harry. She made sure that he got plenty of protein in him, gently insisting that he eat more than the little bit of fruit he was able to choke down.

She winced as she could feel him shaking, not that she blamed him. She would be nervous too if she had to face a dragon. A bloody dragon, at fourteen years old! She shook her head and forced herself to choke down some breakfast that she hoped would stay down through the day. Some of the Champions family members were coming to the Great Hall to eat breakfast, but Harry just stood up when he was finished and nodded to the twins and Neville's offers of good luck. His eyes pleaded with Hermione to walk with him and she immediately did so.

They walked around the Lake in silence for a while, neither having anything to say, but took comfort in each other's company. When Harry's watch said it was time, they walked to the Champion's tent. The look on his face was absolutely breaking Hermione's heart and she tried to offer him any comfort that she could.

"Hold on," Hermione suddenly said as they were just outside the tent, causing Harry to turn to her, brows furrowed. He watched as Hermione took out her wand and tapped his glasses muttering _'haereos'._ He felt a suction sensation, before it faded, though he still felt the glasses sticking to him. She gave him a small smile, "There, they won't fall off."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said with a gracious smile, before she shocked the hell out of him.

Hermione did something no one had ever done to Harry before. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. No one had ever hugged Harry before, well, maybe his parents, not like he could remember. Padfoot and Moony weren't the touchy feely type; Harry reckoned it was from Sirius' isolation in Azkaban and Remus' fear of rejection with his lycanthropy.

Harry stiffened up immediately, but inhaled and caught her vanilla and parchment scent, which seemed to soothe his nerves and allowed him to bring his hands up and hug her was incredibly nice. _'I could get used to this,'_ he thought as he allowed his eyes to close in contentment.

However, they heard a loud popping and jumped away from each other, turning to see the smoke of a camera and a blonde lady stepping forward out of the tent. Harry groaned as he realized that it was Rita Skeeter. She was dressed in puke-green, which Harry thought was her signature color. Her claw like nails were sharpened to points and painted blood red, just like her lips, which were curled into a feral grin as she gazed at her next story through her glasses.

"Oh, young love," she sighed wistfully, "Who's your friend, Harry?"

"None of your business," Harry hissed, trying to block Hermione from Rita's view.

"Oh, don't be like that. Readers are curious about the young champion, especially after the lovely article I wrote-"

"You mean that rubbish full of lies? There's a word for that in the muggle world called libel," Hermione retorted, watching the reporter's her beady bug eyes as they focused on her.

"Ah, she speaks. Tell me, dear, what's it like _snaring_ the 'Boy-Who-Lived'?" Skeeter asked, her quick notes quill already writing something down, until it promptly blew up on the spot and a most welcomed voice to Harry was heard.

"Picking on children now? Have you no dignity?" Harry grinned as he saw his godfather putting his wand away after destroying the quill. Remus standing beside him, glaring at the reporter. "Beat it, Skeeter."

The witch sneered and strutted away in her tall heels, the photographer following behind her. Sirius turned to his godson and who he assumed was the famous Hermione Granger. _'Oh this will be fun,'_ he thought, internally rubbing his hands together in glee and cackling in a parody of a muggle supervillian.

"We went to school with her little sister. Bint named Margo," Sirius shuddered and shook his head, Remus rolling his eyes at his friend, before turning to Harry.

"Sirius, this is Hermione-" Harry was cut off by Sirius lightly bumping him out of the way and painting one of his famous charming smiles on his face that made all the witches swoon.

"The lovely Miss Granger. I am exceedingly pleased to meet the witch my godson won't shut up about," Sirius said, before placing a kiss on the back of her hand. Harry glared at his godfather from behind Hermione, mouthing profanities that made the old dog smile. Remus came to the rescue and knocked his best friend on the back of his head with an eye-roll.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Black and nice to see you again, Professor Lupin," Hermione said with a large smile as she saw one of her favorite teachers.

"Hermione, call me Remus. I'm not your professor anymore."

"Excuse my language, but it's a bloody shame that you aren't."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Remus said, before Professor Dumbledore walked over to them.

"Harry, you should get in. They're getting ready to start," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he glanced at Hermione's worried face. He noticed that the boy looked focused, something he had never really seen before. He was quite pleased with how this was developing. _'Maybe I could tell him by next year...'_

"Good luck," Hermione whispered as she hugged him one last time, before letting go and following his godfather and Remus to the spectators side. Harry felt a surge of determination rise inside of him, and he wanted to do good in this task. For her, for Sirius, for Remus, and for himself.

He walked in the Champion's tent with his head held high.

**-oOo-**

_'Just my luck...biggest fucking dragon...so great to be Harry bloody Potter...' _Harry was muttering to himself in his thought as he stepped out of the tent. He knew that it was just his luck to pick out the Hungarian Horntail, but it never ceased to amaze him how Murphy's law affected him. Actually, it should be changed to Potter's law.

He glanced up at the crowd for a flicker of a second, but his eyes immediately landed on his support system: Sirius, Remus, and Hermione, who were all trying to smile at him in encouragement. Unfortunately, they looked more like grimaces instead of smiles. '_That's comforting,'_ he groused before glancing around.

Then he saw the dragon and he felt his stomach drop to his feet. It was a lot bigger than he thought and his heart was pounding against his ribs. Bigger than he thought, it was bloody huge! Bigger than anything he had ever seen before, even the Basilisk.

Then the dragon saw him, _'Oh shit,' _he thought as he quickly ran and ducked behind a cluster or large rocks, but not before the horntail let out a breath of fresh fire, which caught on his arm a bit. He patted the area with his gloved hands, putting out the small flame but seeing that he was scorched a bit. _'Bloody hell, that burns! Okay, let's not get burned again!'_

"Your wand, Harry! Do it, now!"

He heard Hermione screaming at him and effectively pulling his head out of his arse, _'Thank you, Hermione Granger,'_ Harry thought as he did exactly as she asked and pulled out his wand.

"_Speculum duplicem!_" Harry muttered, glancing around the rock to see the horntail blow some fire to him. He felt all the magic in his body shifting as he focused on his emotions just like Hermione said. He felt the angry emotions - the hurt, the betrayal, the anger at being abandoned. He realized that those emotions weren't helping and were actually hindering as he felt his magic almost deflate. He then felt the scorch of the fire as the horntail blew the fire against the stone he was behind, making it heat up. _'I'm going to be burned alive!'_

"Oh, shit!" he had actually exclaimed it this time as panic started setting in, his breath quickening, his heart had moved from pounding to slamming in his chest.

Then, like a beacon of light, a couple of faces came into his mind. Hermione. Sirius. Remus. They were the ones who truly cared about him. He focused on the night that Sirius was declared free, that Moony taught him the Patronus, the feeling of hope he was given when Hermione offered to help and the feel of her holding onto him as they rode on the broom, "_Speculum duplicem!_"

He felt a shift in his magic and raised his eyes to see...himself.

He did it, he created the double and smiled at the fact, seeing his double smile as well. He peeked around once more, seeing the horntail coming toward him as it caught sight of his double. He decided that it was now or never and jumped to a cluster of rocks next to him, the double going the opposite way, but in plain sight of the dragon. Harry smiled when he saw the large beast trying to follow it, though couldn't fully because of the long chain that was keeping it in place.

"Harry Potter has created a mirrored version of himself and the dragon is following it! Incredible!" Ludo Bagman's voice announced. Hermione smiled as her idea was working and Harry performed the spell so well, much better than he had when they practiced. They had a couple of back up ideas, but this one was the best and it had worked!

"Well done, Harry," Hermione muttered, a large smile on her face as Harry ducked into another cluster of rocks, the horntail still trying to go after his double form which was in plain sight.

"All right, Pup!" Sirius bellowed as he and Remus smiled joyfully. Sirius then turned to the girl who was responsible for helping Harry, "You, Miss Granger, are in for a big Christmas present!"

Hermione just smiled at Sirius and turned back to watch Harry as he continued onto this routine, the dragon moving farther and farther away from him and toward his double. Harry smiled and flickered his eyes up to his supporters once more, seeing Hermione nod her head and mouthing **'Go!'**

He nodded and decided to make his move, hopping over the rocks and running toward the eggs, seeing the golden one for him to take. He chanced a glance behind him, seeing that the rapid movement of his double completely distracted the horntail and that the dragon was trying to fly toward it, but was still chained up.

With one more glance behind him to see the dragon effectively distracted with his double, Harry ran toward the egg and reached his hands out to grab it.

"He's done it!"

**-oOo-**

When he walked back out of the tent, Harry sighed in relief that it was over. He had an accomplished smile on his face though, as he had completed the task, relatively unscathed except for some burns on his arm that were healed quickly by Madam Pomfrey and a couple of scratches on his face from the rocks, which were also healed quickly from the woman who could regrow the bones in his arm in a day. _'Damn Lockhart,'_ he thought with a shake of his head.

After he had grabbed the egg, the dragon caught sight of the real Harry and blew some fire toward him, but thankfully the dragon handlers were able to take care of the dragon and subdue it with a half-dozen stunners that brought it down.

He saw puke-green out of the corner of his eye and turned his head, seeing Rita talking to Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy. He rolled his eyes, figuring that they were probably telling her more lies about himself, painting him as a glory seeking child like she did in the first article.

"Harry!"

The boy in question smiled and turned to the source of the call, seeing Hermione walking over to him as fast as she could with her leg. She had a wide smile on her face and hurried over to him, "You did great!"

He beamed at her praise as she pulled him in for a hug, being mindful of any injuries, and both of them letting out unconscious sighs of relief. They both held each other for a bit, reluctant to let go, but did so to prevent awkwardness between them.

Sirius and Remus walked over and congratulated Harry, before saying goodbye and walking to Hogsmeade to Floo back to Grimmauld. Remus was close to casting a silencing charm on Sirius as he was about to tease the two about being so close, but thought better of it as he didn't want to ruin his godson's chances. He wholeheartedly approved of the girl, just from talking with her as they sat watching the task.

Remus had put in a good word, describing that she was the best in their year, probably the brightest witch in the entire school, but what really made Sirius give his approval was the look of pure anguish on her face as she watched Harry compete, digging her nails into her face. Murmuring encouragement under her breath and then the cheering when Harry grabbed the egg, the relief and happiness in her eyes that he was okay. She really cared about him and that was enough for Padfoot. Harry had too many fake people come through his life and he knew that this young lady was not one of them.

Harry and Hermione were about to enter the Great Hall for the feast, seeing everyone crowd around the Champions, excitement buzzing around the Hall. Harry decided he didn't want to deal with the large crowd and turned to the girl with him, "Hermione, do you wa-"

Unfortunately, it looked like his wishes weren't going to be taken into consideration as he was cut off by a large crowd of Gryffindors swarming around him. He saw Hermione get pushed away by the crowd and shrunk back as everyone started yelling in excitement. All the Gryffindors who weren't talking to him, who were calling him a cheat, who were ignoring him. His ex-best friend, Ron Weasley, was at the front of the crowd, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Mate, that was absolutely brilliant!"

"You should have seen the look on Karkaroff and Krum's face!"

"Fleur looked like she was going to pitch a fit!"

"Did you see how big that dragon was?"

"It was the most dangerous one!"

"It was no competition to our Harry!"

Harry was incredibly uncomfortable with all the excitement and glanced around for the only girl he wanted to talk to. He saw that he was boxed in from all sides, everyone trying to talk at once, but saw through a gap a sight that made his chest feel like it was ripping in two.

Hermione was limping away from them, towards the way of the Ravenclaw Tower, her shoulders slumped and her head down. He realized that she thought he was going to abandon her because everyone was talking to him again. Everyone was so excited with his win and she thought that he was going to forgive them. That same determination from before the task welled inside of him again. _'Hermione Granger, for the first time in your life, you're wrong.'_

"Oh, just because I do good in this bloody tournament, you all think that all is well? _'Our Harry'?_ Where was this when you were all calling me a cheat? When you weren't talking to me?" Harry's voice was deathly calm, but his green eyes were blazing with anger, making everyone take a step back from him. Ron let go and stepped back with them, never seeing Harry like this before, "No. No, you all abandoned me when I needed you. So, you can all sod off!"

Everyone was shocked. They thought that Harry would just forgive them for the misunderstanding, just like he did with the Heir of Slytherin incident. They realized that they really put their foots in it this time and backed up as Harry broke through the crowd.

"Oh, Ron?" Harry stopped, turning around to the redhead, "Consider our friendship officially dead. I don't need fair-weathered friends in my life."

Ron frowned at the statement, obviously not understanding it and Harry rolled his eyes before continuing on his way.

"Hermione! Hermione, wait up!" Harry called, running after her retreating form. He saw her stop walking and turn around with a cute confused expression on her face.

"Harry? What is it? Aren't you going to celebrate your victory?"

"Yeah, I am. But there's only one person I want to celebrate it with," Harry said, before moving up close to a whispering distance, "What do you say to dinner for two in the Room of Requirement?"

Hermione's only answer was a bright, beaming, and beautiful smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, I hit 400 followers on this story and I'd just like to thank each and every one of you. I'd also like to thank Lord Lovegood, Pagemember, Lythian-Malfoy, and bw29853 for adding **_**Still I Rise **_**to your communities. **

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, the quiet was serene and peaceful. He had just received his Prophet and was saddened by the story on the front. About an hour after reading it, he received an owl from Sirius, telling that he was working on the situation in the paper. After they had printed the first article about Harry, he had started negotiations, but after the article today, it would be enough to shut them down.

He looked over to the cabinet to his right, which had three different types of locking charms on it. It held two important things in it, though some wouldn't consider them important at all. Many would discard them as junk and throw them away, but they once held a very important significance about them.

A diary with a hole in the middle of it and a destroyed locket.

He remembered Sirius' sobbing a couple of months ago when he realized that Regulus had taken the locket from the Dark Lord and ordered Kreacher to destroy it. His brother had turned on the Dark Lord and didn't die a Death Eater. He was near catatonic for those days following, before he seemed to have a weight lifted off his shoulders. He and his brother had been close when they were younger, but then Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, Regulus into Slytherin, and he adopted the Dark Lord's ways much to the pride of his mother and was marked. Sirius was cast out of the family and lived with James. It pained Sirius because he loved his brother, even when he was on the other side.

Albus knew that he had been neglectful, using the excuse that the boy was too young, but now with Sirius out of Azkaban, he knew that it wouldn't fall in Harry's hands. The adults would take care of everything, though he knew the final act belonged to Harry. They would have to tell him about the prophecy this summer, and he was dreading it immensely. How do you tell a boy that he has to kill the Dark Lord because no one else can? Because you were prophesied and marked to? How do you tell a boy that he, himself, must save the wizarding world?

It was also the reason Albus decided to be be more proactive. It was why he had reprimanded Severus for his words against Miss Granger, along with Mr. Malfoy for calling her a Mudblood. He had been well aware of some students, namely Slytherins, common use of the foul word, but turned blind eye. It was getting worse and he knew that punishments needed to be handed out if the children had any hope of being forgiven.

As much as it pained him to admit, Mr. Malfoy was already tainted by his father to reform. But the others, it was possible.

He smiled thought as he thought about Mr. Potter's and Miss Granger's budding friendship. Deep down, he was quite proud of Harry for standing up for himself against his House. Soon, they would see the error of their ways and ask for forgiveness and Harry would forgive those who deserved it, and _that_ would be right. Albus had learned the hard way that forgiveness is supposed to be earned, not just given.

He glanced down to Harry's recent grades and smiled as he saw the high marks he was receiving, no doubt from Miss Granger's influence. Without hinderance, the boy was growing confidence and spreading his wings. He was maturing, he was growing, he was unknowingly preparing himself and Albus was content to sit back and watch, for now.

**-oOo-**

Hermione Granger woke up with a smile on her face as she recalled the night before. She had a lot of fun with Harry during their personal victory feast made by Dobby. They talked and laughed and opened the egg before closing it because of the screaming. It was another thing for Hermione to get on researching. She suspected that it wasn't screaming, but some kind of code or language at a very high pitch. Thoughts for another time, considering the second task wasn't until February.

All in all, she had a great time.

She pulled herself out of bed to get ready for the day. It was a Saturday and she had nothing really planned for the day. Maybe she would help Harry out with the clue, that is, if he wanted to hang out with her.

Thoughts on the Boy-Who-Lived confused her. In the beginning, she thought that Harry was an attractive boy in her grade, but she didn't really give him a second thought beyond that and that he was the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. Really, he was just another person, just like she.

Truthfully, she thought that he was quite arrogant along with Weasley. It had even bloomed the last couple of weeks in third year after his godfather was declared innocent; he looked like he was walking on air around the castle. She now knew that arrogance is far from what you could describe Harry Potter as.

Ever since that night in the Room of Requirement, where they actually spent time getting to know each other, something was stirring in her. It was something surprisingly unknown to Hermione.

She felt her heart quicken when he looked at her, she felt her stomach tighten when he smiled, and when he laughed, she felt light headed. She wanted him to look at her, she wanted him to smile at her, she wanted him to laugh with her. She thought that he had gotten even more attractive to her since they were spending a significant amount of time together. She wrote to her mother who came up with the conclusion. Hermione had developed a crush on him.

At first, she wanted to dismiss it and expel these feelings from her, but then realized that she was fifteen and old enough to consider these thoughts and feelings. Life was not _all_ about schoolwork and books. She thought that maybe, just maybe, she could allow herself to fall for the boy. It felt surprisingly natural, like breathing. Like she truly needed Harry. Truthfully, because of her fear of the unknown, her feelings were scary, but she _wanted_ to let herself feel them. She wanted to explore them despite her fear.

It brought her back to her fear of how much she found that she needed, at the very least, his companionship. She wondered what their relationship would be like if she had befriended him in first year, but those thoughts always brought her down a bad territory of remembering her injuries and perpetual limp.

She decided back then, laying in the hospital wing all those hours, that she wouldn't dwell on the past, because it was just full of pain. She also wouldn't think about the future, as it was too uncertain. She would focus on the now, and the now was telling her that she had developed a crush on Harry, all because of the stupid tournament trying to kill him.

There was a part of her, deep down, that still held an insecurity that it was all a big joke. She was scared that if she disclosed her feelings, Harry was going to laugh in her face that she would think he would want her; a bushy haired, know-it-all bookworm. Hermione understood that she wasn't as beautiful as some others in the school. She wasn't an exotic beauty like Cho Chang or the Patil twins, she wasn't a budding buxom blonde like Lavender Brown, she wasn't an icy princess like Daphne Greengrass, and she didn't have an athletic body with a pretty face like Angelina Johnson or Katie Bell. She was just plain; bushy brown hair, brown eyes, and a flat body. Nothing special.

But, the big question was, did all that even matter to Harry? She didn't think he was superficial, so maybe he could like her for her. It was asinine to say that looks weren't important because you had to be physically attracted to someone to form a connection, and Hermione _did_ think that Harry was very attractive. What did he see her as? Maybe he would see past her looks and find some impalpable inner beauty that he thought she possessed. _'Who knew that an act of kindness could have led me to my first romantic interest,' _she thought as she made her way out of the tower.

It seemed that Hermione wasn't the only one interested in her 'love life'.

She walked into the Great Hall and sat at the Ravenclaw table across from Luna, who was reading her father's paper, the Quibbler. Soon enough, the mail arrived and Hermione opened her copy of the Prophet, only to choke on her pumpkin juice at the headline and picture accompanying the article in the Prophet. There was her and Harry's hug from before the first task along with huge, bold words,

**'Boy-Who-Lived Snared'**

The article, written by that horrid reporter, Rita Skeeter, painted Hermione in the darkest light as a 'plain and ambitious muggleborn witch' who was feeding Harry love potions to keep him interested in her. They also said that she was feeding him loyalty potions that turned him against his own House. There were even quotes from Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy, who confirmed that she was smart and capable of brewing said _illegal _potions.

Hermione dropped the paper on the table, her hands shaking, her heart racing, her breathing quickening. She felt physically sick, and feared that she would vomit the eggs she had just eaten.

She could literally _feel _everyone's eyes on her, and wanted to sink into the ground. She had never been so embarrassed in her life and didn't know what to do; if she just sat there she would continue to be gawked at, if she stood up and walked out, she would draw even more attention to herself - if that was even possible. Witches and Wizards were impressionable and would believe the Prophet even if it declared that 2+2=5. She knew that no one would believe her anyway, a muggleborn. Her word was lower than the dirt they thought ran through her veins.

Standing on wobbly legs, mortified by the extremely loud silence, she quickly walked out of the Great Hall. Right before she exited, she started hearing the whispers. She winced at the foul words they were using to describe her and quickened her pace to get out of the least her tears held out until she was fully out of the Great Hall, where no one could see her dignity crumbling to the ground.

**-oOo-**

Hermione wasn't aware that the Boy-Who-Lived was having similar thought as she when he woke up. His first thoughts seemed to land on the bushy haired witch with beautiful brown eyes. _'They were quite lovely,' _he thought with a smile as he got out of bed and started getting ready for the day.

He wasn't familiar with feelings, even less with girl's feelings, but Hermione was the first girl he felt truly comfortable with. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were too giggly and Ginny was a borderline stalker and still had a huge crush on him. The squeaking and running away when he was over the Burrow was damn irritating, too. Katie Bell and Angelina were just from the team, he had known them since he was eleven so he saw them as the closest thing older sisters that he would get.

With Hermione, he felt like he could just be _himself_.

From the first moment he met everyone, he was the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. He could accept that, but wanted someone to just see him as Harry. Then, this year, out of nowhere, Hermione comes and offers her help. She wasn't offering because he was the 'Boy-Who-Lived', she was offering because she could relate to Harry, the boy who had been cast out by his peers because of something out of his control. And she was Hermione, the girl cast out by her peers because of something out of her control.

It was Hermione offering Harry help, no strings attached, just a mutual understanding. It was also one of the best things to ever happen with he friend that he had gained from it. He kept questioning why he never tried to befriend her earlier.

She held many great things about her that he liked; she was kind, she was determined, she was utterly brilliant, she believed in him, she didn't babble about gossip, she talked to and treated him like a normal human being.

A blush graced his cheeks as he knew that there were also physical things about her that he liked; she had a nice smile especially after the Malfoy incident - he snickered as he remembered Malfoy walking around bandaged up like a mummy because of the boils.

_'She also gives great hugs'_, he chuckled before wondering if he could maybe get another one out of her. Then he blushed even deeper at the remembered feel of her body against his and how it had embarrassingly reacted to the proximity.

As he was exiting the bathroom after his shower, he remembered that he didn't stick around long enough the day before to hear how he did on the task. Everyone was just yelling at him too, so he couldn't decipher what they were saying. His main goal was to come out alive, not to win, but everything went better than expected.

_'Thanks to a certain bushy haired witch,' _he thought with a smile. _"Her hair isn't really bushy, just very, very curly. Hell, she has to have big hair to accommodate that large brain of hers." _

He chuckled at the thought and saw Neville walking out of the bathroom and decided that he was curious enough to find out.

"Hey, Harry."

Why did he never form a deeper friendship with the shy Gryffindor? He just returened the smile,"Hey, Neville, how did I do in the task?"

The shy Gryffindor turned to Harry, his face confused, "Er...well, you placed first."

Harry blinked, "I did?"

Neville smiled and nodded, "Yeah, even Karkaroff couldn't find anything wrong so he gave you a seven. You even completed it in the least amount of time."

"Oh...wow."

"Yeah, you were brilliant. How did you do that mirror thing?"

"Hermione found it for me," Harry said with a smile on his face, thinking about his...well, she was his savior. Out flying the dragon, looking back, was a terrible idea he now knew.

"She's good for you," Neville suddenly said, causing Harry to look at him strangely, "You're different, in a good way. It's a good change."

Harry just smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Nev."

They walked out of the Gryffindor tower and to the Great Hall, hearing excited chatter already. As soon as they walked into the large doors, everyone turned to see Harry, though he was used to it and continued his stride toward the Gryffindor table. Before he could get there, Harry saw one of the last people that he wanted to see walking toward him and tensed up, "What do you want?"

"Don't worry, mate, we'll get you help for the bloody potions she's been feeding you," Ron said sympathetically, but with a tinge of anger that had Harry frowning in confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Harry asked, glancing around to everyone's whose noses were buried in the paper.

"Uh...Harry," Neville said, before handing him his copy of the Prophet. He took it and saw the picture first, him and Hermione hugging before the flash startled them and they jumped away from each other. He was surprised at the pure annoyance on his face when he turned to see who disturbed their hug.

Then he read the article and he was angry. He kept reading and he became furious. At the end, there wasn't even a word to describe how enraged he was. "What the fuck is this shit?" he yelled, tossing it down on the table like the rubbish it was. Harry was never one to openly display his anger, so he caught the attention of most of the Great Hall, besides being the topic of the article. Fred and George Weasley picked up the paper and read it, glancing to each other and frowning.

"I knew that she was doing something to keep his attention," Harry heard Ginny Weasley tell Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"Honestly, you saw how Harry has been acting recently. I figured it was potions or some spell," Parvati replied, before shifting her eyes full of pity to Harry.

"She's not doing anything! I'm not being potioned!" Harry snapped, his temper growing. He felt everyone's eyes on him, playing him out to be the victim of some pseudo crime committed against him.

When he realized that he wouldn't get anywhere with them, he focused on task number one: he needed to find Hermione and make sure that she was alright. He glanced over to her usual spot, only to find it empty. He walked over to the blonde girl who he sometimes saw sitting close to Hermione, hoping to find her whereabouts.

"Excuse me?"

She glanced up with slightly spacey blue eyes and he saw a pair of earrings in her ears that looked like radishes. She asked in a dreamy, sing-song like voice, "Yes, Harry Potter?"

"Do you know where Hermione is?"

"She left a couple of minutes ago after reading the paper."

Harry's heart sank into his stomach, "Thank you...er..." he trailed off, not knowing her name.

"Luna Lovegood."

"Thank you, Luna," Harry said, before hurrying out of the hall. He reached into his back pocket and took out his wand and the map, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He opened it up and tapped it again, "Locate Hermione Granger," he said, watching as all the names disappeared. Sirius had added this modification over the summer after they had made copies of it. He saw her by the Black Lake and hurried out the doors. He didn't care about the slight chill, just wanting to make sure that she was okay.

He saw her sitting by a tree and felt relief swarm him, before he heard a sniffle and his heart plummeted into his stomach. She was crying. Crying girls confused him and he didn't really know what to do that bothered him, it was more that it was _this _girl who was crying and it was partly his fault. "Hermione? Are you okay?"

He winced as she glanced up and he saw her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks were damp and her nose was slightly runny. She hid her face and used the sleeve of her jumper to wipe away the tears, before looking back up and forcing a smile.

"Yes, just...completely mortified," Hermione said, her voice shaking.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," Harry said, taking a couple of steps closer to her.

"No, it's fine, Harry," she said, shaking her head and forcing another smile. "I'm sure this will all blow over by Monday."

Her tone betrayed her words as she knew the inevitability that was waiting for her in that castle.

**-oOo-**

Just as expected, it hadn't gone away by the time Monday rolled around and everyone was still talking about Hermione. They weren't just talking anymore as she ha received hate mail and howlers from many who read the Prophet. She even got one from Molly Weasley who called her a scarlet woman. She had grabbed all the unopened letters so that she could throw them out, but one that had bubotuber pus in it exploded on her hands and arms, making them painfully swell.

Harry watched as Hermione ran out of the Great Hall while clutching her swollen hands and started to follow her, but stopped when Sirius' owl landed on his shoulder, a note on his leg. Leonis took the offered bacon from Harry's hand, before the black owl swooped back into the sky. Harry opened the note and read,

_I'm working on the Skeeter and the Propet's reckoning. Don't worry, it's coming. Go to the hospital wing, tell Madam Pomfrey you want to get tested for love potions. Have her write a report and then send it to me. I'll take care of everything._

_Tell Hermione to stay strong and stick with her._

_Padfoot_

Harry crumpled up the note and grabbed his things, making his way to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey was pouring potions on Hermione's swollen and boil filled hands. When she glanced over to him, he winced at the embarrassment and the hurt in the brown orbs, before she turned back to the basin.

She didn't acknowledge Harry as she walked out of the hospital wing, barely even looking at him. "Mr. Potter...Mr. Potter?!"

He shook his head out of his daze, "What?"

"Did you need something?"

"I need to get tested for love and loyalty potions," Harry admitted sadly, the guilt welling up inside of him. If only he wasn't the bloody 'Boy-Who-Lived, if only he was normal.

**-oOo-**

Hermione was walking through the castle with her head down, trying to make it through this mortifying day. She felt completely embarrassed, more so than she had ever been in her life, and she could hear the whispers, feel the stairs, and it felt like the names they were calling her were tattooed on her skin for all to see. She felt like Hester Prynne and bitterly thought that maybe she should embrace it and stitch a red A on her uniform since she was now a scarlet woman.

Her hands were hurting, every little bump to them was painful and she couldn't hold wand or quill. She really couldn't wait for the swelling to go down so that she could resume normal functions, it was all very frustrating how useless she felt.

She didn't want to speak to Harry, she didn't even want to look at him, knowing that she'd see guilt which would bounce right back onto her. The boy was too noble and took the blame for every little thing that happens to someone if his name comes up. It wasn't his fault that Skeeter wrote the false story, but of course, he would feel that. Hermione just wanted the day to end so she could curl up on her bed and sleep.

She was almost at her class, when her way was blocked by a brick wall of students. Glancing up, she saw the bane of her existence, Ron Weasley, standing in front a bunch of third and fourth year Gryffindors. She saw Ginny Weasley giving her the death eye and figured it was because of her fascination with the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. It was common knowledge in the castle of Ginny's dream of marrying Harry Potter, it was a little sickening to Hermione how obsessed she really was. She even saw Ginny Potter written on her notebooks.

"What the hell did you give him, Granger?" Ron Weasley snapped at her, his face turning a shade of red, darker than his ginger hair. Hermione just sighed, her patience already running thin.

"I didn't give him anything," Hermione defended through gritted teeth. "Why would you care about him anyway? You all abandoned him."

"We didn't _abandon_ him, we just didn't know he didn't put his name in. Now we know," Ginny said.

"Did you ever try to _ask _him? You were his best friend, Weasley, you should have taken his word for it instead of acting like a jealous prat. Now, if you would excuse me," Hermione said, trying to brush past him. Unfortunately, the Weasley temper had reared its ugly head and he grabbed her wrist to pull her back to him.

She shrieked in pain and felt a popping sensation she knew was one of the boils. She then felt a sick warmth was added to the pain and she saw that the white bandages were turning red.

Harry was trying to find Hermione. He had a bad feeling churning in his gut that turned to a dropping sensation when he heard a shriek, causing his feet to move toward the noise. He rounded the corner and saw a bunch of his Housemates and crying Hermione who was clutching her hands.

He then saw red.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, running down the corridor toward them, "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

Ron just looked at Hermine in disgust, "Nothing, just confronting the little Potions mistress-"

"She never potioned me! Don't you people listen?! This is why I told you to sod off, you don't listen. You just get your own ideas like you're right and everyone else is wrong! Leave Hermione alone," Harry yelled, causing all of them to jump slightly at the force of his voice. He turned back to Hermione, who was trying to pick up some dropped parchment with her hands, the bandages dotting red with blood.

Harry moved to help her up, "Hermione, come on, I'll take you back to the-"

"You've done enough!" Hermione cut him off with an angry and pain filled yell, causing Harry to jump back in shock. He saw tears rolling down her cheeks as she stood up and walked around him. "Just, please, leave me alone."

Harry stood rooted to the ground in shock, feeling like cold water just rushed over him. He heard a horrible voice in his head that told him he had just lost a friend.

**-oOo-**

In the dungeons, two friends were having a drink, reminiscing about good times. Severus poured another glass of Firewhiskey, passing it to his half-drunk friend, who was guffawing about their first task for the Dark Lord. There were three activities you had to participate in to become marked: torture, rape, and murder. Barty was with Snape when he completed all three. They had grown close during time spent together, 'co-workers' and friends.

Barty was in his normal form, not his Alastor Moody form, another thing to laugh about that they had fooled the Great Albus Dumbledore with polyjuice. Hogwarts was not as protected as it was said to be and the Headmaster was not as smart as many believed. His father was easy to take care of. A little Imperio and presto!

"Karkaroff is getting jumpy," Severus slurred, taking another drink of the burning liquid. It felt like fire going down his throat but left a nice warming sensation in its wake.

"_He_ is not pleased, and Karkaroff will get his," the escaped convict then got a smile on his face as he teased in a sing-song voice, "_I heard you got in trouble._"

"The damn fool actually scolded me like I was a child," Severus growled, slamming the tumbler on the table and ignoring the laughs of his friend. He had never been reprimanded by Dumbledore before and it pissed him off. He had always had free rein to do whatever he wanted to the other unworthy students. He even set them up for failure in favor of his Snakes.

"His time is coming," Barty said with an excited gleam in his eyes. Severus over to him, knowing that he knew exactly when that time would be.

"When?"

"June. The last task," Barty eagerly informed his old friend, a smile twisting his features.

"Good. The brat will finally die like he was supposed to thirteen years ago," Severus growled. He wanted James dead and he wanted Harry dead. The Dark Lord had promised him Lily, but he had killed her instead. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to question his decisions, even know as weak as he was.

His time was coming and the spawn would finally die.

* * *

**A/N: Have you ever been in pain and snap and you didn't mean it? If you have, I hope that you can see Hermione's side. I hope that you liked Dumbledore in this. **

**Next: An apology, an overheard conversation, and a Christmas surprise.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them." - Bruce Lee

**Chapter 5**

Harry was lamenting, what he assumed was, the end of his friendship with Hermione by the Lake. He felt alone, more so than after his name was pulled from the Goblet.

He turned the golden egg in his hand absent-mindedly, his thoughts wandering. He had gone to the library the day after Hermione snapped at him, sitting at the table and hoping to talk to her, hoping to apologize.

She wouldn't look at him in the classes she shared, not even when he would try to get her attention. He saw that she looked awful. Her posture was slackened, she had dark circles under her eyes, they were red and puffy. Guilt was eating him up inside.

He felt like he was the cause of her being hurt, being teased, being slandered by everyone in the school. His whole House is playing him out to be some victim and keep trying to 'reach out', not that he particularly cared. They were all a bunch of wankers in his opinion, except for Neville and the Weasley twins, who said that they had been keeping an eye on Hermione whenever they could and steering their youngest siblings away from her.

Harry snapped in Potion's class when Snape said that they were going to get a 'jump start' and brew Amortentia, even though they wouldn't learn how to brew it until sixth year. He also made a snide comment about some being familiar with the potion, but his eyes were on Hermione as he said it, eliciting snickers from everyone in the class. Hermione had walked right out of the classroom, ignoring the protests and threats of Snape, and Harry could see tears starting to gather in her eyes.

He then got into a screaming match with Snape, which ended with him losing his temper and calling Snape a 'cold-hearted, greasy son of a bitch,' not one of his greatest insults in retrospect. He was sent to Professor McGonagall's office, who assigned him a detention, but disclosed that she agreed with his observation of the Potion's Professor, much to his shock and amusement.

"Harry?"

He thought that it was his imagination messing with him as he heard the voice he had wanted to hear for the last couple of lonely days and closed his eyes. He missed her terribly, and even though the twins and Neville were good enough company, there was something about spending time with Hermione that just felt _right._ "Harry?"

He heard it again and turned his head in the direction it came from, seeing her standing there. She had her Ravenclaw scarf on to protect her from the cold and her heavy cloak on. Her cheeks were pink from the chill, the tip of her nose also pink and making her look very cute in his opinion. He was stunned that she was talking to him, though, and just looked at her, relishing the sight.

"Hermione," Harry said, surprised that she was talking to him, and that her tone was sad.

"I have to apologize, Harry," she said, surprising him. He just stared at her as she wrung her, now healed, hands in front of her, vaguely reminding him of Dobby. He took a glance at the hands and saw that they weren't scarred. _'Madam Pomfrey is a miracle worker,' _he thought. She took a couple of tentative steps closer, keeping an eye on his face as if testing his reaction.

"I've been trying to figure out how to say this, because I didn't think you would want to talk to me." Hermione started, seeing that Harry wasn't saying anything, just staring.

That he wasn't lashing out at her for being a brat was a good start. She hated herself for snapping at him, just because she was in pain and embarrassed. It wasn't fair of her to take her problems out on him. She had been sleeping horribly the last couple of days, not able to focus on her work as her mind kept drifting back to Harry's hurt face. The hurt that _she _had put there. She was willing to do whatever she could to make him forgive her, and even if he didn't, she planned to still help him with the tournament, any way that she could.

"I had no reason to snap at you, Harry. It just...my hands hurt and I was embarrassed and I took it out on you...and I'm really sorry. Can you...can you forgive me?" Hermione asked, her gaze dropping to the ground.

Harry recognized that her tone was now shameful and that she was truly repentant for what she said. He could understand her situation and there was nothing to forgive, it was all his fault anyway.

"No," he said, causing her head to snap up, her eyes wide. He saw her nod sadly and turn to leave, when he realized that he had said that wrong. He stood up and rushed over to her before she could leave and gently grabbed her shoulders, turning her around. "Hermione, no. No, I don't forgive you, because there's nothing to forgive. You have _nothing _to apologize for. It's my fault your hands are like that and _I'm _sorry."

"Harry, _please_," Hermione was pleading with him and he knew that she needed to say this. He just sighed and nodded his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry snapped at you and I'm sorry that I hurt you."

Harry knew that he needed to say it, "I forgive you, Hermione."

He just smiled at a smiling Hermione; assertive, wonderful Hermione who he had missed during their time not talking. He only realized how much he really missed her by talking to her again.

"You know, I'm used to people talking about me. They usually pick the favorite topics: my hair, my teeth, being a 'know-it-all', but I've never had someone talk about my faux-love life. I guess I was just used to the embarrassment accompanying the other topics," Hermione admitted, her tone was like she was telling a joke.

"I'm so sorry about...everything that happened to you," Harry choked out, though wasn't meaning just this situation. To have her so resigned about her bullying sparked something inside of him and seeing his Housemates ganging up on her in the hallway really pissed him off. "I'm so sorry that everything happened to you. It all seems to correlate to me. The troll, I did nothing to stop it; the basilisk hurt you, it was partly my fault; now this...I won't blame you if you want to back out-"

"Get real, Potter!" Hermione snapped at him, though it had a teasing tone to it this time. "It's taken me fifteen bloody years to make one friend, I'm not giving him up for anything!"

Harry smiled at Hermione, who smiled right back. For some reason, 'not giving him up for anything!' sounded really good to Harry. He knew that no matter if he never forgave his House, he would still have Hermione in his corner. They both walked over to the large rock and sat down next to each other, watching the calm Lake in comfortable silence.

"That was embarrassing in Snape's class," Hermione muttered, feeling as though she needed to talk. It had been eating her up inside, the embarrassment, and knew that she could talk to Harry. She felt comfortable enough to talk to him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I called him a 'cold-hearted, greasy son of a bitch," Harry admitted.

"Harry! Oh, you shouldn't have done that!" she said, her tone borderline scolding, before she smiled at him. "No one has ever really stood up for me. Thank you just the same."

"No problem, Hermione."

"Did...did you get into trouble?"

"Just a detention with McGonagall, but I spent it doing homework," Harry said with a smile. "I got an O on that Summoning test in Charms, by the way."

"I must be rubbing off on you," Hermione said smugly, really proud of Harry. It took a couple of seconds though to realize her words, and then she flushed. Harry watched impressed as her face turned a couple of shades of pink, though it was vastly different from the shade of puce his fat uncle used to turn, "I-I mean, well, b-because...I...oh my goodness, b-beca-"

"Relax, Hermione, I know what you meant. You don't need to have a complex," he laughed at her stuttering and stumbling, causing her to smack his arm.

"Prat."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, just watching the colors of the sky change, the sun setting over the Lake, and the peaceful sound of the water. When they got up, it was to go to dinner, but Hermione gently grabbed his arm to stop him.

"So...we're good?"

"Yeah, we're good," Harry confirmed, a bright smile crossing Hermione's face as she carefully wrapped her arms around Harry. He wrapped his around her, gently tugging her closer, a smile playing on his lips. _'Yep, I could definitely get used to this.'_

**-oOo-**

"Something needs to be done about this!"

Albus Dumbledore jumped slightly as Filius roared, throwing the paper back on his desk. He sure had an impressive volume in his voice in regards to his stature. "She's already been attacked because of this and I've had to assign _fifteen _detentions already for the foul things students are saying about her, the M-word being included. I've been trying to make sure she doesn't get hexed when she walks down the hallway!"

Dumbledore was a little surprised at the anger, then again, he knew Hermione was undoubtedly his favorite student. He was a little concerned that he was going to respond the goblin way to someone he cared about getting hurt.

It usually involved the loss of limbs and Albus suppressed a shudder at the thought.

"Now, the Lions are ganging up on her in the hallway?! This needs to end, Albus or else Hermione is going to get hurt worse than she already has," Filius said, forgetting for formalities as he used her given name. He had taken the little Eagle under his wing, offering her a safe harbor from bullies as he could sympathize.

He had one foot in each door, both goblin and wizard, but wasn't fully accepted by either. Hermione had one foot in each door as well, muggle and magical, but until there were changes made, she couldn't fully fit in either.

"I also heard that they were brewing Amortentia in Potions. That potion is not supposed to be brewed until their sixth year. Would you care to explain that, Severus?" Minerva fixed the Potions Master with a steely glare.

"I thought that it would be beneficial for them to get a jump start on their lessons," Severus replied in a silky drawl, his arrogance blowing the fuse that was Minerva McGonagall.

"Oh, stap yer haverin', Severus!" Minerva snapped, her Scottish brogue coming through, her tone as quick and sharp as a sword. McGonagall was truly feeling embarrassment and shame well up inside of her. She always took pride in the fact that her House took care of the bull-_ied_, and weren't the bull-_ies_.

Now, she wasn't so proud of them.

Filius' face then fell as he remembered her defeated look the last couple of days. "The poor girl has endured enough throughout her years here. What about those buttons Mr. Malfoy has made? The ones about Mr. Potter? Something _needs _to be done, Albus!"

"I must agree with Filius," Minerva cut into Severus beginning argument, knowing that tone back to her normal sternness, "My Lions are going to be punished for their belligerence and I happen to agree with Mr. Potter's stance against them."

"Sirius Black has contacted me and let me know that he is working on it. I have given my full support to whatever he is doing. Justice for Miss Granger will be met," Albus said, his voice almost shameful. "I'm afraid I've been remiss with her treatment and others of her blood status, too worried about Mr. Potter. I admit that."

"We cannot change the past. What we need to lock down on the treatment today forward," Pomona spoke up, shooting an icy look at Severus, who was known for his treatment towards others not in his House and how he basically encouraged it. "We need to get more proactive in the bullying here. We know it happens, yet we've all turned blind eye, for no reason! We're supposed to offer the children safety. To let them know that they can trust us, they can come to us with problems. We are the authority here, but we've been letting the kids run amok."

"I agree. That word has been said too many times in this school. It needs to be done," Filius said sternly, his tone daring anyone to contradict him and he would show why he was a champion dueler.

"If we start giving out detentions for using that word, then half the school will be in detentions by the end of the week!" Severus argued, Minerva silencing him with a glare.

"If that's what it takes, so be it!" the Head of Gryffindor snapped, the Lioness making an appearance.

"Agreed," Albus said, nodding with his Heads of House and ignoring Severus' scowl. "I will make an announcement tomorrow before breakfast of the punishment given."

**-oOo-**

Hermione was for a shock the day after her and Harry's reconciliation.

"I have an announcement to make," the Headmaster started, sharing a look with the staff, who were fully on board when told about what will be done. "We, the staff, have all agreed and from this day forward, any student that says that foul word used to describe muggleborn students will find their House a hundred points less and will serve a week's detention cleaning the castle without magi-"

Professor Dumbledore cut himself off at the uproar from the Slytherin table, threats to write home to their parents being made, _**'Wait till my father hears about this!' **_made his way to his ears and he inwardly rolled his eyes. Merlin, that boy was irritating.

He then noticed the cheering from the other three tables and the wide smiles of some of the muggleborn students in their seats, happy that their abuse was finally going to end. Excited chatter was beginning to accompanying some of the applause and cheering. He then spotted Miss Granger and Mr. Potter sitting together at the Ravenclaw table, a wide smile on both of their faces.

Those smiles, to an educator, were like a balm of the soul and it warmed his heart to see them happy. However, he had to end the Slytherin protests and took out his wand.

"Silence!" he roared with the sonorous charm, cutting through their protests like a knife through hot butter. "Thank you. The rule has already been decreed. Any student being caught bullying will rue the same fate. This has gone on long enough, this has to end. It will not be tolerated anymore!"

After the announcement, the Great Hall was full of murmurs regarding the new rule. A regal looking owl flew into the Great Hall, calling everyone's attention to it, murmurs being made as it landed right in front of Hermione.

She cringed, waiting for more howlers or booby-trapped mail, but only saw a couple of important looking letters.

"I think that you should open them, Hermione," Harry said from his spot next to her. She glanced at him and saw him smiling encouragingly. Knowing that he wouldn't lead her wrong, she took the letters and the owl swooped away.

She saw the DMLE crest on the envelope and started panicking that maybe they believed the Prophet and she was in trouble for the 'love and loyalty potions that she was feeding Harry'. With shaking hands, she opened the letter.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_It is with sincerity that I apologize for the slanderous and obvious false words printed in the Prophet about you. I've had several sources of confirmation that you would never endanger Mr. Potter's life as such. Rita Skeeter has been fired from the Prophet, and the paper is now under a new owner._

_Please know that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is looking into the letter that was sent to you and the perpetrator(s) will be charged to the fullest extent of the law. You can also expect apologies from any others who sent you jinxed mail and howlers._

_Amelia Bones_  
_Head of DMLE_

Hermione was stunned, reading it twice, before opening the second letter and recognized the Gringotts crest at the top. To her surprise, it was a personal letter from the Director of Gringotts, Ragnok, and it showed that the account set up by her parents before her first year now had increased to an impressive number. Quickly doing the math in her head from galleons to pounds, she widened her eyes as she realized that it was a five digit amount to the left of the decimal as compensation for her injuries.

"Bloody hell," Hermione muttered, her hands shaking. She looked up to Harry, who was smiling knowingly, giving her a clue that he had something to do with this. He perked up when he heard the owls arriving and arriving to deliver the Prophet to everyone. It was a couple of minutes later that the Great Hall erupted with talking. It actually wasn't just the Great Hall, it was also all around the whole country.

**Rita Skeeter Sacked!**

**Prophet Under New Ownership!**

**Barnabas Cuffe Offers Public Apology to Hermione Granger**

**Harry Potter Speaks Out Against Potion Accusations**

_The words printed about Hermione Granger by Rita Skeeter are completely and utterly false. I am not under love potions or loyalty potions. I am friends with Hermione Granger because she is a good person, not because of some chemically induced compulsion._

_I am disgusted by the words printed against my friend and the fact that it caused her to have to visit the hospital wing at Hogwarts because of an attack made in the form of a letter full of bubotuber pus. Whoever sent the letter can expect the full wrath of House Potter and Black against them with Amelia Bones leading the investigation._

_Attached below is a statement by Healer Pomfrey that shows I am potion free. Please rest assured that no more false words will ever be printed in the Daily Prophet again._

_H.J. Potter_

She saw that the new owner of the Prophet was none other than Sirius Orion Black. Harry would later explain to Hermione what it actually meant to be under the protection of the Houses of Potter and Black.

"I mean, just...how?"

"Well, after the Prophet got word that the Supreme Mugwump, Albus Dumbledore wasn't too pleased with the false words, and the Houses of Potter and Black were also angry, they became very _giving_." Harry said, Hermione frowning in confusion.

"The money?"

Harry grinned, "Skeeter's yearly salary, which Sirius bought the Prophet for. He's kept all former writers, except Skeeter, and hired some new trustworthy ones. He and Remus will make sure that every story ran is legitimate."

It was technically blackmail, it was against everything Hermione stood for moral wise, and she didn't give a damn! Justice was finally being served and she was wasn't about the money, it was about her pride and her reputation and her dignity, all of which would be restored, hopefully. The fact that it was also Skeeter finally getting her comeuppance that was the icing on the cake. She had been printing false stories for far too long. Who knows what kind of trouble she could have caused in the future?

The words Harry wrote in the paper touched her as well. _Friend_, it meant so much for him to openly declare it to the country. No one had ever looked out for her before, and she felt on top of the world.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered and leaned over, placing a kiss on his cheek. Harry had never been kissed before and stiffened, before realizing that it was _really _nice. He gently touched the spot she had kissed and beamed brighter than the sun, a blush coloring his own cheeks.

Hermione hid her face as she put the documents in her bag, inwardly squealing that she had found the courage to kiss him, on the cheek, but still. She happily went back to eating her breakfast, chatting happily with Harry while the Hall was full of murmurs in regards to the paper.

Just before the start of the day, there was a sudden a series of pops all around the Hall. Everyone who had confronted, made fun of Hermione, or tried to hex her in the hallway found themselves in muggle clown get up, including large red plastic nose, full makeup, polka dot costume, and big shoes.

Even the Weasley twins were affected, which confused Harry at first because they were in on prank, but they would later explain that they took it as their penance for being prats to him earlier. Instead of getting up in a panic like the others, they sat in their seats with accomplished smiles on their painted faces. Neville was avoided because he had apologized to Harry first, but Ron and Ginny, Lavender, Parvati, Dean, and Seamus were all affected.

Hermione saw that most of the Slytherin table was changed - including Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - some of the Ravenclaws, not many of the Hufflepuffs, and a good portion of the Gryffindors.

Best of all, Snape was also in clown get up, though his pink afro also looked as greasy as his regular hair. All the Professors, including the Headmaster, had hands over their mouths to stifle their laughter while Snape, still managing with a flourish, left the Great Hall. All the clowns started screaming, shrieking, cursing, and trying to run out of the Hall.

Those who weren't affected broke into riotous laughter, falling out of their seats, overcome by their guffaws.

Unfortunately for the clowns, the big shoes hindered their running during their escapes and many tripped, causing a domino effect. Some were trying to step over each other to leave the Hall and their embarrassment, their shoes squeaking as they went. However, the Great Hall doors closed and locked, not letting anybody out.

Hermione glanced next to her to see a slightly smug Harry Potter, looking very proud of himself. He caught Hermione's eye and winked, which made her heart stutter. She had to lower her gaze, lest he saw the embarrassing flush of her cheeks in response to the action.

Sirius and Remus had told Harry, '_The only way to get through a bullies thick skull is a taste of their own medicine.' _He was quite satisfied to know that no one would mess with Hermione again.

"Now you know what it feels like to be embarrassed as you have embarrassed others," Professor Dumbledore's voice cut through the laughter, before waving his wand and cancelling the prank, each of the students now back to normal. "Think about this the next time you want to bully someone."

Some faces were startled with realization and were thinking the same thought. Others were still angry, but later they would settle and their minds would wander to how mortified they felt when it happened to them.

_'Was **that** how it felt to others when they did the same to them?'_

**-oOo-**

"I mean, _how_ did you get it in the food?"

Hermione and Harry were in the Room of Requirement before dinner, which resembled a mix of the Ravenclaw common room and library, with some of the Gryffindor common room traits. They were sitting face to face on the plush dark blue couch with gold pillows, a roaring fire warming the room along with mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, courtesy of Dobby.

"Well, I had a little help from Dobby and the House Elves. They love pulling pranks," Harry admitted, remembering how excited Dobby was when he gave him the potion to put in the food. He was up near the ceiling, making sure the intended targets got the portioned food using elf magic, which was extremely convenient.

"That was incredible. No one's ever done something like that for me before," Hermione said, Harry smiling sheepishly with a blush coloring his cheeks.

"You'll also have to thank my godfather and Remus. They were the real masterminds behind the operation. They really like you and were mad when they found out what was happening to you," Harry said, smiling as he remembered the interesting use of vocabulary Sirius was using when he told them about the pus filled letter. Remus was a little more tame, but both were seriously pissed off.

"So, I wanted to suggest something," Hermione said, seeing Harry nod. She placed the mug on the small coffee table and took a book out of her bag, "I picked this up from the library."

"'Basics of Occlumency'," Harry read the cover of the thick tome in her hands, "What's Occlumency?"

"Mind magic. It helps shield your mind from Legillemency - mind reading - attacks."

"Wow. People can do that?"

"Professor Flitwick and I got into a discussion about it last year and he let it slip that Professor Snape is a master Legillimens and Occlumens."

Harry's eyes widened and he felt his body tense. "So what you're saying is that _Snape _could just be reading my mind without me even knowing?"

"If you held eye contact with him, yes."

"Hermione, how do I do this?" Harry was now desperate, not wanting that greasy git probing around his mind. He felt violated that anyone could be messing with his mind, and was now anxious to learn. Plus side, it was more time to spend with Hermione.

"Well, first you have to read the book and then I'll help you with organizing."

"Organizing?"

"Yes, you have to organize your thoughts. It helps to pick something that's familiar with you, for example, I picked a library where all my memories are in books." Harry smiled at Hermione, who went on to explain. "I was concerned because there were more books than memories, but Professor Flitwick said that was okay because during an attack, the Legillemency user would have to search through each book and would sometimes come up with nothing, giving me time to get my walls up."

"Okay, sounds good," Harry said, reaching out to grab it, but she let it go too quickly and dropped it.

"Here, I'll get that-"

"No, let me-"

Both crouched down at the same time and reached for the book, their hands brushing. They realized how close their faces were to each other and green met brown. Their eyes locked contact and Hermione felt a weird sensation twisting in her gut as she looked at his handsome face up close.

What she didn't know was that Harry was feeling the same way as he stared at Hermione up close. Her brown hair up close was not so bushy, but really curly; her face was free of blemishes and makeup, which was a difference from the girls in his House who looked like they spent hours on it. He inwardly chuckled as Hermione would rather spend those hours reading.

Her eyes locked him in and Harry was met with a startling discovery, _'She's beautiful.'_

A couple of months ago, he would have said no way and that someone like Daphne Greengrass was beautiful. No, in his eyes, Hermione was the prettiest-no, the most beautiful witch in the castle. It wasn't just her looks, it was her inner beauty. She helped him when no one else would, she stuck with him, she encouraged him, she supported him. She was caring and compassionate and kind and intelligent. His eyes dropped to her lips and he had the urge to lean in and press his lips to hers.

_'What did all of this mean? Do I have a crush on her?' _he thought and came up with one answer.

Yes.

His eyes widened at that thought and he jumped back, shocking Hermione out of her own daze. _'Just act like it didn't happen, think about those thoughts later!'_ Harry thought frantically, knowing that he needed to change the subject, "So, er...do you want to work on your Patronus?"

"Yes, please."

**-oOo-**

Harry had just returned from another Patronus lesson with Hermione, and she almost had a corporeal patronus. He was curious to what her form would be and was a little jealous how quickly she was getting the Charm. _'I have an excellent teacher,'_ she had said, making him blush. He placed the Occlumency tome in his trunk and got changed into his pajamas, grabbing the mirror and putting up the silencing charms. He really needed to talk to his godfather.

"Hey, Pup, so how did the prank go?" Sirius asked after his face came through the mirror.

"It went great, but I have to talk to you about something," Harry said really fast, Sirius frowning and nodding for him to continue, "I like Hermione."

Sirius rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Well, that was obvious. Glad you finally caught up."

"Huh?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Oh, come off it, Harry. You should have seen the look on your face after the first task. Those 'discreet' little glances to Hermione, looking like she was the only thing in the world. You father had the same problem with your mother, but just don't drag your feet until sixth year like he did." Sirius warned, Harry blushing as he realized that it was that obvious.

"So, what should I do?"

"Tell her your feelings," Sirius said immediately, making Harry - the one who was raised for twelve years of his life by the Dursley's - shrink into his shell. He still didn't understand feelings, and was confused to _how_ and _what _he would tell Hermione.

"I...I don't think I can do that."

"Pup, if you're scared because you think she won't reciprocate, it's obvious she feels the same. Just talk to her," Sirius encouraged, Harry lapsing into a thoughtful silence.

"We had a...a moment today."

Sirius quirked an eyebrow, "A moment?"

"She dropped her book and I bent down to pick it up at the same time she did and we brushed hands and...I just looked at her and thought that she was so beautiful and I...I think I wanted to kiss her, but I don't know..."

Sirius barked a laugh, "It's perfectly natural to want to kiss a pretty girl and it shows that you do have feelings for her. Tell her how you feel, be honest."

Harry nodded but still felt unsure. He tried to change the subject, "Thanks, Sirius. Where's Remus?"

"Over Andi and Ted's with Nymphadora. She's got a crush on the old dog. Looks like I'm the only one not struck by cupid's arrow," Sirius sighed mockingly wistful and Harry just rolled his eyes at his self-proclaimed 'playboy' godfather.

"No, it's just that no girl wants flea filled dog in their house," Harry teased, laughing at the mock-outraged look on Sirius' face.

"Oi!"

**-oOo-**

Harry took a couple of days to think about what he felt for Hermione, and to try and find what to say to her. What would he say to her? _'Should I ask her out on a date?'_ Turned out that the opportune moment arrived when Professor McGonagall asked to talk to him after the announcement of the Yule Ball.

"Wait, what?"

"You will be leading the procession in with the other champions then you and your date will have the first dance. Make sure you get a date and know how to dance," the Transfiguration teacher said, watching slightly amused as the boy looked like a fish out of water.

"B-But-"

"Dismissed," Professor McGonagall said sternly with a raised eyebrow that dared him to challenge her. Harry rose from his seat, walked out of the classroom and toward the library where Hermione was. There was only one girl he knew he wanted to ask, and maybe this was Fate giving him a perfect opportunity to ask Hermione out. To test the waters, so to speak. If she said yes, then he would tell her how he felt.

He found her in the library, sitting at her desk, writing something down. His heart was pounding in his chest as he tried to get his brain unscrambled. He was just asking her to the ball, that was it, but his brain wouldn't stop running so he could form a coherent sentence.

_Hermione, will you do me the great pleasure of...no, that sounds fake. She'll think that's stupid. Hermione, will you consent to...no._

Hermione had been uneasy in the usually comforting library, with the presence lurking three tables over. Viktor Krum had taken to coming to the library ever since the paper denounced Hermione as a 'potions mistress', and she always felt his eyes on her. Every time she looked up, she would see him look away from her quickly, which confused her. She was glad when she caught sight of Harry walking into the library and sighed in relief, her shoulders un-tensing a bit.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione said without looking up as he slid in his chair, "So, what did Professor McGonagall want?"

He opened his mouth, but no sound came as he was choking on his words, _'Oh no! __What are you doing? What are you doing?! You're going to ruin this? Where are your balls, Potter? Just ask her!'_

"Hermione, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" Harry all but shouted in a fast pace, Hermione jumping at the volume of his voice. She glanced up to see him looking at her with wide eyes, his face looking completely nervous and uncertain.

_Did he really just ask... _Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she stammered through her answer, "Oh, er, well...I'm flattered, Harry, really...but I can't. I'm already signed up to go home for Christmas."

Rejection. Harry's face fell as he plopped down in the seat across from her. He hadn't really prepared himself for rejection, and he probably should have. It hurt. Well, it wasn't exactly rejection, jut unfortunate circumstances, and it wasn't her fault.

"Oh," Harry said dejectedly, his heart plummeting into his stomach. "I'm supposed to have a date for this thing."

"I'm really sorry, Harry," Hermione said, placing a hand over Harry's and giving it a squeeze. She held the contact for a while as she also held his gaze.

"Yeah, me too."

She saw a slightly hurt look in his eye and cursed herself. Why did she always have to hurt him? She was inwardly berating herself for signing up to go home. When she saw dress robes on the list, she figured there would be a ball of some sort and didn't even bother. Who would want to ask her? If she knew then what she knew now, she would have bought them. But it was too late.

She would make it up to him. Somehow.

* * *

**A/N: So, I thought I would also be able to include Christmas in this chapter as well, but it was just too long in my opinion, BUT, that means that the chapter is already finished and should be up by Friday! Oh, don't worry about the Yule Ball. I said there would be a Christmas surprise, didn't I?**

**How did you like the Heads of Houses and Dumbledore in this? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm sorry, I know I said I would get this out last Friday, but some problems with my document hindered it and then I got a little sick and then some other things happened. I just hope this chapter makes up for it with the length. **

**I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed, telling me what they thing and what I can do better.**

**If some of you have wondered why I haven't really mentioned Durmstrang or Beauxbatons, it's because they don't really have a part in this story. Just a little heads up in case any of you were wondering. This story is about Harry becoming independent, Hermione coming out of her shell and how it can help defeat Voldemort with a bond (not a soul bond) building between the two.**

**Not totally happy with this chapter. I'll probably go back and revise it a bit, but I wanted to get it up. A big thank you to all who catch my spelling mistakes! It helps me out a lot, so please do tell me if I mess up.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

An otter burst from Hermione's wand, making her gasp and Harry stare. It swam around as if it was in the water, moving around Hermione as if it was playing with her. Warm feelings enveloped the witch, amazing memories flashing through her mind - spending time with her parents, books, and Harry. All their time spent together was flashing through her brain and she felt completely safe with her protector. She giggled at the otter, an actual _giggle_ escaping from the lips of Hermione Granger, and watched it disappear into a white wisp.

Hermione was breathing a little heavy from the amount of magic used to get her form and Harry was just smiling at her, a feeling of pride welling up inside of him as he looked at Hermione. She had been the one helping him these last weeks, teaching him spells, and he finally taught her something. He taught her something that would keep her safe, something that seemed to be becoming a goal of his.

"I did it!" she squealed happily, feeling accomplished, more so than any other achievement she received. More so than winning the spelling bee competition when she was seven, more so than receiving perfect scores on her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. It was even better that Harry taught her.

Harry rushed forward just as Hermione moved and crashed into the girl, hugging her tightly in celebration. In his excitement, he picked her up and twirled her around, her giggles like music to his ears as they celebrated her accomplishment.

Time caught up with them and they realized what their position was, Harry hugging Hermione to him tightly and Hermione's arms around his neck, their faces only inches apart. Emerald locked to brown, Hermione felt the heat flaming in her cheeks as Harry gazed at her, looking content and relaxed. A small smile quirked at his lips, and she felt her own lips mirroring it.

Harry's eyes dropped down to Hermione's lips, which looked incredibly inviting and he had the urge to close the short distance between them. It was something he was curious, yet also afraid of. The ramifications of kissing her. He was sure that she wanted to kiss him, but what would it mean? Just the thought of explaining his feelings made an uneasy feeling settle into his gut. He didn't like talking about things along those lines and usually bottled them up deep down. But, he _wanted _to kiss her badly. _'Bugger it,' _he thought, leaning forward...

A sudden pop caused the two to jump back and turn toward the noise, seeing a sheepish Dobby standing there holding a tray of hot chocolate. Truthfully, both were thankful for the interruption, not exactly sure about the feelings that were unfolding. They were rushing through the two teens and slightly overwhelming, Hermione would compare it to a roller coaster. You psyche yourself up to get on the ride, knowing that it's an exhilarating adrenaline rush and you might be a little scared, but you want that feeling of euphoria at the end. Hermione felt that she wasn't quite yet ready to get on the ride, but she was in the process of psyching herself up for it.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry and Hermione said as Dobby sat the tray on the table, popping away with a small smile on his face. They settled on the couch with their homework and hot chocolate, not speaking of what just occurred. Further analysis would be reserved for later.

About a half an hour later, while Harry was doing his typical teenaged boy blowing things up stuff, Hermione saw a photo album peeking out of his bag, and her curiosity got the better of her. She gently took it out and laid it on the desk, looking over her shoulder, she saw that Harry was too occupied with practicing spells to notice what she was doing.

She opened it up and saw a magical picture of a beautiful auburn haired woman with bright green eyes much like Harry's. She was enveloped in the arms of a man who looked like Harry's brother with hazel eyes. At the bottom of the page in elegant script was _Lily and James, 1978_.

_'Harry's parents,' _Hermione thought as she flipped through the book, finding several more pictures like that, including their wedding, a pregnant Lily, and a baby Harry, the last couple making her smile. _'He was such a cute baby.'_

Like being hit with a bludger bat, she finally knew what she was going to get Harry for Christmas. She had been fretting, not having much knowledge in the buying gifts for your 'friends' department, considering Harry was her first friend. The fact that he already had everything money could buy was also disconcerting and she was going nuts trying to think of something. Then a picture formed in her head and she was positive she could do the Charms with some help from her Head of House.

She took out her wand and saw the magical pictures, tapping her wand on each one, muttering, "_Exemplum!_"

A duplicate of each picture she copied appeared on the desk, and she quickly put the album back in his bag and the duplicate pictures in her own, peeking over her shoulder and seeing Harry laughing as he hit a training dummy with a reducto, causing it to blow up.

"Boys," she shook her head and grabbed her book from her bag, opening it up to read with a smile on her face.

**-oOo-**

Harry and Hermione were walking through Hogsmeade side by side. Many of the students were shopping for Christmas presents, others were last minute shopping for the Yule Ball. Harry and Hermione separated for a bit to do some shopping for each other's presents.

Since she had the pictures and a general idea, Hermione's supplies for Harry's gift was very easy to get. On the other end of the spectrum, Harry had no clue what to get Hermione. He never had to shop for a girl before and spent an hour the night before talking to Sirius about it.

"Girls like jewelry, and I'm sure Hermione's no different," Sirius had told him, which was how he ended up in _Dia Menty's Magical Jewelers, _looking and feeling completely out of his element. There were some couples shopping quietly, while Harry just looked idly, not a clue in the world of what to get.

"Can I help you?" Harry turned to the voice to see an auburn haired, brown-eyed witch standing there with a warm smile on her face. Harry guessed that she was in her mid twenties and very pretty. "You have no idea what you want, do you?"

"Am I that obvious?" Harry asked and the woman sympathetically nodded.

"Don't worry, it's why I'm here. I'm Amber," she said, shaking Harry's hand. "First things first, who are you shopping for?"

"Uh...my friend. She doesn't really wear jewelry, but my godfather said that it was always a good way to go with a girl," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Your godfather is right. Even an athletic tomboy type of girl loves a nice piece of jewelry. Now, we just have to figure out what to get her," Amber said, leading Harry over to a couple a couple of shelves. She took out her wand and tapped it against her chin, "I assume that a ring would be too much for her. Tell me, and this is a little personal, so you're free to not answer, but is this girl _just _a friend?"

Harry's eyes widened, comically in her opinion, "Does that even matter?"

She smiled, "Oh, yes. Girls are naturally more in touch with emotions and can read gifts, seeing the hidden messages in them. Messages you didn't even know you were trying to convey."

Harry blanched, the pressure suddenly building on his shoulders. He didn't know what kind of message he was trying to give Hermione, he just wanted to show her how much he appreciated her help, and maybe slide in that he had some more than platonic feelings for her.

His eye then caught the nice piece of jewelry on Amber's wrist, "Do you have something like your bracelet?"

She looked at him before glancing down to it and smiled fondly, "Why yes we do."

Harry watched as she tapped the third shelf with her wand, the shelf opening and then expanding until it was about five feet tall with different bracelet chains on it, of all different colors and sizes. "So, what do you think? Gold, silver, platinum, white gold?"

She saw his blank look and picked up the white gold chain and placed it on the table in front of her. "I prefer white-gold. So, what kind of charms do you think to put on it? We can transfigure just about anything."

"How many should I get?"

"Hmm...well, I'd only get two or three right now, just to start her off. It's good to build on it with different memories of your relationship," she said, before extending her arm and showing her own. "See, my husband gave me this back when we started dating my fifth year. The three broomsticks charm signifies our first date, the snitch because he played Quidditch, the rose because it's my favorite flower, my birthstone. Stuff like that."

Harry thought about it, before he smiled and glanced up to Amber. He knew exactly what to get Hermione and the next hour was spent transfiguring the charms and placing extra charms on the bracelet so it wouldn't be stolen, wouldn't break, etc. It was the best money Harry had ever spent.

**-oOo-**

Harry walked out of the jewelry shop with a large smile on his face. Amber said that Hedwig could pick up the completed bracelet in the next two days, which meant that he would have to have Dobby pop over to Hermione's to give her her gift on Christmas.

All in all, he couldn't wait for her to open it, but was a little glad that she'd be home opening it so he wouldn't see if she hated it. He decided to make a trip to Tomes and Scrolls to get her a backup gift.

He found an expensive book on the animagus transformation and figured that they could probably do it together if they wanted. He had been wanting to ask Sirius and now would have someone to do it with, if she wanted, that is. He knew that she'd appreciate the knowledge anyway and bought it, before walking out of the store to see Hermione walking toward him.

"Hey, how did it go?" she asked, adjusting her blue and bronze scarf tighter. around her neck The chill had picked up a bit and Hermione's nose and cheeks were rosy, her brown eyes sparkling. Harry felt his breath get caught in his throat as he gazed at her, but managed to answer her.

"Great. You?"

"Great," she repeated with an extra bright smile, which made Harry's own smile brighten. _'Were her smiles contagious?'_ he wondered as they started walking toward The Three Broomsticks to grab a bite to eat.

**-oOo-**

Two mischievous red-headed twins were watching from afar and knew that they needed to give the kids a little push together, since they both seemed either oblivious to each others feelings, or just too scared to admit them. It was also an opportunity to be a little naughty, and really, when would they pass that up? They walked up to them just as they were exiting The Three Broomsticks, "Ah, Forge, look at these two lovebirds out on a nice romantic stroll."

"Makes this heart warm to see it, Gred."

"What are you two on about?" Harry asked as he and Hermione blushed red at the word 'lovebirds'.

"Just congratulating you two on your recent relationship," they answered in unison, amused at watching the pink color on their cheeks turn bright red.

"We're not-" Harry and Hermione started at the same time, sputtering for an explanation, and the twins knew that they had them in the trap.

"Whatever, we're not-

"-privy to your business. We wanted-"

"-to offer our congratulations to Hogwarts'-"

"-newest couple."

They bowed and walked around the two thoroughly embarrassed teens, snickering all the way to Zonko's. "That should give them something to talk about."

"Ingenious, dear brother of mine," Fred said to his twin, who beamed with pride.

"Why thank you, mon frère."

**-oOo-**

"Well, I'll see you next year," Hermione joked, trying to lighten the mood, to no avail. She, for the first time in her Hogwarts schooling years, didn't really want to go home for Christmas. Of course, seeing her parents made her very happy because she missed them terribly, but she kind of wished she could go to the Yule Ball with Harry. He hadn't even gotten a date, though he had many offers. He rejected them all, since most of them came from the girls who were calling him a cheat not even a month ago. She couldn't help but feel at fault a bit.

"Yeah," Harry murmured, both of them standing a little awkwardly in front of each other.

"Harry!" he saw Colin Creevey hurrying over to them with his little brother in tow. Colin and Dennis were one of the Gryffindors to believe Harry, mostly because they all but worshiped the ground he walked on. They had their trunks with them, on their way to go home.

"Hey, Colin, Dennis," he said, seeing them beam at being acknowledged by their hero. He then saw them glancing back and forth between Hermione and him, and saw the girl next to him smiling, "Dennis, Colin, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Dennis and Colin Creevey."

"I know you! You were in the hospital bed next to mine in first year when we were petrified. Wasn't it cool how Harry killed that Basilisk?"

"I didn-"

Hermione cut Harry's protest off, "It was _very_ cool."

She winked at Harry's mock-exasperated look, suppressing a laugh.

"Can I get a picture of you two?" Colin asked, Hermione and Harry looking to each other and shrugging.

"Uh...sure," Harry said, turning to Hermione who nodded. Colin beamed and stepped back with Dennis, raising the camera. Harry and Hermione moved closer, Harry wrapping his arm around her waist as she smiled at him and turned to the camera. Harry and Hermione smiled as the camera popped and Harry turned to Hermione, looking at her still smiling as Colin took another picture of them.

"Thanks!" Colin chirped as he and his brother got on one of the carriages and Hermione turned to the boy next to her.

"Happy Christmas, Harry," Hermione summoned all of her courage and leaned forward, kissing Harry's cheek, before getting on one of the carriages with the two muggleborn wizards. The carriage, thankfully, started moving as soon as she was on, sparing her any embarrassment.

Harry stood rooted to his spot, baffled at what she did. He rubbed the spot on his cheek she kissed as it seemed to tingle and smiled as he turned back to the castle.

Hermione had been sitting in the compartment when the bludger bat idea producer appeared once again. She stood up ad walked down the train corridor until she finally found Colin and Dennis sitting in their compartment, talking to one another. She gently rapped on the door and they both turned to see who it was, their eyes widening. She took that as her permission to enter the compartment.

"Colin, can you help me with something?"

**-oOo-**

On Christmas morning in Kent, Hermione had woken up to the wonderful aroma of chocolate chip pancakes. Christmas was the one day that the dentist parents were lenient on chocolate and her mum cooked her 'famous' pancakes. It was a tradition since Hermione was a little girl and she smiled, hopping out of bed to go through her normal routine, minus getting changed. It just wasn't Christmas unless you unwrapped your presents with your pj's on!

She saw her parents chatting happily in the kitchen, greeting them with hugs and kisses, the normal Christmas greetings before they enjoyed breakfast together. Afterwards, they went into the living room and opened up their presents while listening to Christmas music on the stereo system.

They were just about finished opening presents, when they heard a popping noise and a tiny creature appeared in the living room, seemingly out of thin air. Hermione's mother let out a shriek while jumping into her husband's lap in fright.

"Dobby!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise.

"Master Harry's Grangy! Dobby apologizes for intruding, but Master Harry Potter sir told me to give this to you," Hermione smiled as Dobby's speech was getting a lot better through her teaching him whenever Harry was reading his Occlumency books. She took the wrapped gifts from Dobby's hands and smiled at the thought of her friend.

Hermione turned to her stunned parents, "Mum, dad, this is Dobby. Dobby, these are my parents."

"It is an honor to meet Master's Grangy parents," Dobby said with a low bow, confusing the two muggles who saw their daughter nod to greet him, a promise of explanation in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you too, Dobby." Emma offered softly, the elf still not completely used to such kind treatment.

"Oh, Dobby, I have your present, hold on," Hermione said, before racing up to her room and grabbing the little gift from her trunk along with Harry's gift. Hermione showed signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when she returned home after her first year. Her parents took her to a therapist - who was told she had gotten into a car accident - and she suggested finding an activity to keep her mind and hands busy besides reading, so she took up knitting the summer after second year. She had worked on the present for Dobby before bed every night since she found out that Dobby had an affinity for socks.

"Happy Christmas, Dobby." Hermione said as she handed him the wrapped gift, the little creature's tennis ball eyes misting. "Open it."

"They are beautiful," Dobby choked out, holding the blue socks in his hand, his eyes misting and Hermione moved forward, enveloping him in a hug.

"Here could you give this to Harry, too?" Hermione asked, handing him the gift. She had worked on the present the ride home with Colin since she couldn't do magic at home.

"It would be Dobby's honor to," he said before snapping and popping away to Hogwarts.

"Uhm...sweetheart? What exactly_ is_ Dobby?" Dan asked, hoping that he put that in best terms he could.

"He's a house elf, daddy. His magic is bonded to Hogwarts castle and he works there with other house elves. Sometimes they bond to witches and wizards to work for them."

"How do you know so much, Hermione? You weren't thinking of getting one, right?"

"Oh, absolutely not!" Hermione exclaimed. "I was trying to find a way if I could free them actually, but, unfortunately, it's impossible if you're not bonded to them. It's horrible, some of their Masters treat them like slaves. Harry actually freed Dobby from his horrible Master."

The Grangers saw their daughter lighting up at the mention of Harry and shared a secretive look, but were curious to know more about this boy. "And how did he do that?"

"Well, the only way to free a house elf is for their Master to give them a piece of clothing. Dobby's former Master was Lucius Malfoy, personification of a pureblood bigot and all around disgusting human being. His son Draco is just like him, Harry actually defended me and cursed Draco when he called me a mudblood, but that's another story," the parents chuckled at their daughter, knowing she was in her babbling mode. It was a trait she had gotten from Emma, but Dan loved both of his girls for it.

"Anyway, Malfoy had left something in the office and Harry gave it back to him, but Malfoy gave it to Dobby. Harry had put a sock in the diary and it freed Dobby. He's so brilliant when he wants to be! Especially now that he's away from that prat, Weasley."

"Weasley?! The same little shit responsible for you being hurt?" Dan snapped, his temper always short when he thought about the little shit responsible for his daughter being attacked by a bloody troll. It was only those puppy dog eyes she pulled that saved her from being pulled from Hogwarts and the magical world. "He was friends with that little git?"

"_Was _being the operative word, dad. People make errors of judgement. Harry's a much better person now that they're not friends anymore. He was really angry when he and the other Gryffindors had confronted me. I thought he was going to punch Ronald."

"Maybe it would knock some sense into the git," Dan Granger muttered, Hermione and her mother shared an eye roll, though they also shared the same thought.

Hermione took Harry's presents and opened the biggest one first, seeing that it was an animagus book. She was stunned, her jaw dropping.

"What is that, Hermione?"

"Mum, this book is all about becoming an animagus, which is basically turning into an animal. It takes a lot of studying and discipline to accomplish." Hermione explained, handing her mother the book while she grabbed the other present, which had a note on top of it. She smiled at Harry's chicken scratch,

_I'm rubbish at gifts, and I've never seen you wear jewelry before, but my godfather said that it was always a good way to go with a girl. If you don't like it, I hope that you at least enjoy the book._

_Happy Christmas, Hermione. _  
_Harry_

Hermione unwrapped the gift and opened the velvet box, gasping at the contents. She reverently picked up the silver piece of jewelery and held it up. It was an absolutely beautiful charm bracelet. She studied the three charms already on it: a book, an otter, and the letter H.

"Ooh, sweetheart, that's beautiful!" Emma exclaimed, looking at the beautiful charms. "Why an otter?"

"It's my patronus form, mum," Hermione said, but saw Emma's blank look. "A Patronus is like a magical form of protection. Some have corporeal forms and mine is an otter. It's extremely difficult, but Harry taught me how to do it."

"The bracelet is simply beautiful, sweetheart."

"It is," Hermione murmured, her tone bordering dreamy. She gazed at it for a bit, before turning to her mum, "Could you put it on me?"

Her mother just smiled and gently took it, putting it on her daughter's left wrist. She watched as her daughter examined the present, her eyes sparkling a smile on her lips. Her baby girl was positively smitten with this boy and she was so happy for her.

Hermione constantly had trouble making friends. She was too precocious, too intelligent, too different. Her letters from Hogwarts were the bare minimum, nothing about any friends. The only other student she had mentioned in her letters was Harry Potter, only once or twice, though and it was mostly just telling them the general idea about who he was in the wizarding world.

Then they got the visit from Professor McGonagall who told them that their daughter was attacked by a troll, something out of a story book. It was devastating to see her so broken and then the terrible nightmares she was plagued with after, and wasn't able to have any of the potion they gave her at school. They saw Hermione become indifferent with the isolation, burying herself in her studies, resigning herself to loneliness. It wasn't healthy.

Then a couple of months into this school year, she told them about befriending Harry Potter and how she was helping him with the tournament he was being forced to compete in. Emma was overjoyed when Hermione described her growing feelings for Harry and Emma tried to help her daughter as much as she could. She had a crush on the boy, though her feelings were growing quickly. She tried to aid her in confessing her feelings to Harry, but she knew it would be difficult due to her isolation. Opening up to her and Dan was tough enough. That time to confess was coming though and Emma would help her daughter anyway she could.

The happy mom just smiled and snuggled into her husband's side, enjoying Christmas with her family.

**-oOo-**

Harry opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep from them before putting his glasses on. He saw Dobby standing at the foot of his bed, bouncing up and down in excitement, "Happy Christmas, Master Harry Potter!"

"Happy Christmas, Dobby," Harry said with a smile, before standing up and walking over to the elf, handing him his gift. He had given Dobby Hermione's present the night before so he could pop over to her house and give it to her. He was incredibly happy when Hedwig delivered it, the final product exceeding his expectations.

For Dobby, he had had bought a nice sweater, since he knew Hermione was knitting him socks. He snickered at the old lady jokes he made to Hermione when she knitted int he RoR. She just stuck her tongue out at him and continued knitting. Dobby thanked Harry profusely, clinging to his leg and sobbing at the wonderful gift.

When he finally calmed down, he grabbed a present from the floor near his bed and handed it to Harry, "This is from Master Harry's Grangy."

"Thank you, Dobby," he said, smiling at the present and watching as the house elf bowed and popped away. Harry saw the top note and read Hermione's intricate handwriting,

_Don't worry, I only copied them from your album and the others I got from Colin. I hope that you like it, and thank you for everything. Especially for being my friend._

_Happy Christmas, Harry._

_Yours,_  
_Hermione_

_'Yours...that sounds really nice'_, he thought with a blush gracing his cheeks before he opened the little box, pulling out a gold snow globe. He looked at it and saw that it was charmed to look like it was snowing inside of it.

"Wow..." he breathed and his finger brushed the orb, causing the snow to spin in the orb and he gasped as a familiar magical picture formed. The picture was one of his parents together, outside and smiling. His dad was twirling his mum around as she beamed beautifully, both of them so in love.

He was shocked once more as it changed again to one from their wedding. His mum looked beautiful in her white dress and his dad couldn't take his eyes off her. Sirius and Remus were standing next to his dad, his mother rolling her eyes as they were teasing Prongs, making Harry laugh.

The pictures kept switching, all from his album: one of him as a baby in his dad's lap, smiling at the camera, him and his mum, who placed a kiss on his cheek as he smiled wide, him and Padfoot, him and Moony. He felt tears prickling in his eyes at the beautiful gift, before it switched once more.

It was of him and Hermione hugging after the first task. Harry shook his head at Colin's sneakiness, but was touched by these pictures. The next one wiped the smile from his face, as he gazed at it.

It was from right before Hermione left to go home, when they were saying goodbye. Harry's arm was around her waist, both of them smiling at the camera. Harry in the picture turned to look at Hermione, his gaze full of something he could not identify. He would have to ask Sirius...

Hermione looked beautiful, beaming at the camera. She just looked so happy, so different from a month ago when he didn't really know Hermione. Was there a time when he didn't know Hermione? He knew that definitely didn't want to go back to then. He liked the here and now. He had felt himself change, for the better. He didn't let people just walk all over him. He stood up for himself. He could look at himself and the mirror and not be disappointed. He was finally starting to be the man he wanted to become.

He smiled and reminded himself to thank Colin for the pictures, and then thank Hermione for the wonderful present. He hoped that she liked her present and wished that time would go by quickly so she could come back to school, as selfish as it was.

**-oOo-**

Harry was standing in the Gryffindor common room, all dressed for the Ball, but definitely not ready to go. The time on his watch showed that if he didn't leave right away, he was going to be late and he couldn't find it in him to care. He couldn't seem to get his feet to move, not a single sliver of motivation to attend the stupid ball. He was incredibly uncomfortable in the robes and he didn't even bother get a date.

All the girls who asked him acted snobby when they thought he put his name in the Goblet, then all of a sudden, they wanted to date him. What really pissed him off was when he rejected them, they started going at Hermione to Harry, saying that he could do better. Most of the Gryffindor girls learned that talking about Hermione was not the right thing to do when he snapped at them, practically raging before Neville and the Weasley twins calmed him down.

He was going to look foolish and he just wished this whole night would end already.

"What's the matter, my boy?"

Harry turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking through the portrait, a concerned look on his grandfatherly face. He just shrugged, "It's nothing, Professor."

"From the look on your face, it looks like something."

"It's just...the person that I want here...isn't. I don't even want to go to this stupid ball," he muttered, before looking up at the amused Headmaster, "No offense, sir."

"None taken, Harry, but you know, it's funny that you say that, because I received a letter from parents of a student here. Follow me if you would," Dumbledore said, and Harry frowned, but complied. Harry smiled as he saw Fawkes and gently stroking the Phoenix who twilled a little song.

"What are we doing, Professor?"

"You'll see. Hold on to my arm," he said and Harry frowned, but did as he was told. The last thing he saw was Dumbledore's twinkly eyes before he was pulled through a tight tube. He felt like he was spit out as he landed on the hard ground, dizzy and a bit nauseous.

"Always happens during first time," Dumbeldore said as he helped Harry up, conjuring a glass over water for him to drink. Harry's stomach settled after a couple of seconds and he stood on slightly shaky legs, glancing around to their surroundings to see that they were in a muggle neighborhood. He started to panic that someone saw two people suddenly appear out of thin air, one of them dressed in...interesting festive dress robes in the Hogwarts Headmaster's case. Dumbledore caught Harry's look and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, my boy, we have charms on us. No one even sees us, until now," he said, waving his wand over them.

"Where are we, Professor?" Harry asked as Dumbledore started walking toward the house they were standing in front of. Harry glanced around, seeing that they were all similar, upper middle class two-story houses that Petunia and Vernon would kill for. All the houses were lit up with nice Christmas lights and decorations. They were the kind of houses he wanted when he grew up, the type of neighborhood he could raise a family in.

The walked up on the porch of a house and Harry was thoroughly confused, but trusted Dumbledore. He was in for a shock when the door opened, his shock mirrored by the girl standing there. "Harry!"

"Hermione!"

"Hello, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling and a wide grin on his face.

Hermione seemed to realize that her Headmaster was standing there and sputtered, "Professor...wha-"

"Ah, Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," the old mage said as he saw the two Granger parents walking toward them, knowing smiles on their faces as the two teens just stared at each other.

"Thank you for allowing this," Emma Granger said to Dumbledore as he walked by a stunned Hermione and inside the house.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked Harry, who could only shrug in response. He had no idea, but followed Hermione into the Grangers home.

"So, what is going on?" Harry decided to ask the obvious question on his and Hermione's minds.

Professor Dumbledore just smiled. "Well, Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Granger here wrote to me asking if you could spend the rest of Christmas holidays with them."

Hermione's eyes widened, "What?"

"Are you serious?" Harry asked, staring at Dumbledore.

"Nope, I am," a voice said from the doorway and everyone turned to see Sirius Black standing there with a cheeky grin on his face, "Emma, Dan, nice to see you again."

"Sirius!"

"Hey, pup. I have some clothes for you," he said, handing him the bag with a wink, before turning to Hermione. "And the lovely Miss Granger. Wonderful to see you again."

"B-But, what about the-" Harry asked, turning to Dumbledore, who just shrugged.

"I think that they can make do with three champions."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said with a grateful smile and the Headmaster winked with eyes twinkling, before apparating out of the house, much to the surprise of the muggles.

"Well, I gotta get back to Grimmauld. Andi and Ted are visiting with Nymphadora. I'll see you later, Pup." Sirius said, hugging his godson and kissing Hermione's hand, before waving goodbye to the Grangers and apparating away. Harry was then approached by Hermione's mother, who was smiling warmly.

"Hello, Harry. I'm Emma and this is my husband, Dan. We're so happy to finally meet you," she said before pulling Harry into a gently hug, just like Hermione's. Just like Hermione said, she looked just like her mom with her father's brown eyes. She had the same kind nature that Hermione had and he felt extremely welcome. She led them into the living room. Harry saw that it wasn't like the Dursley's stuffy home during Christmas, it was comfortable. The tree had what looked like personal ornaments on it, with a gold star on top. There were some Christmas decorations placed around the room. Harry smiled, he liked it.

"Nice to meet you, Harry," Dan said, shaking Harry's hand, but his brown eyes were studying the boy in front of him, sizing him up. Emma saw what her husband was doing and knew how protective he was with his girls.

"Even though you're missing the ball, I think you should have at least one dance," Emma said, before she walked over to the stereo system and put on what Hermione identified as_ 'What Are You Doing New Years Eve?'_ for the teens, before winking at Hermione and walking upstairs with Dan. "Hermione, you can show him the guest room. Night, kids."

Hermione's father shot a look that clearly said _'behave'_ at the kids, before he also shot a glance at the boy with his daughter, which Harry read as '_do anything to my princess, and I will end you',_ before disappearing up the stairs with Emma.

Harry gulped and turned to Hermione, who was smiling softly at him, which was the encouragement he needed. "May I have this dance, milady?"

"I'm not really appropriately dressed," Hermione said with a smile, gesturing to herself.

Harry took in her appearance. His teenager brain first noticed the tightness of her jeans which showed that she had quite nice legs, which were always in the shapeless skirt and tights - _always_ tights; she also had on a dark blue flannel shirt and fluffy red and green striped socks on. Her bushy hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and as usual, there was no makeup on her face. He averted his gaze to the floor, his cheeks darkening.

"I think you look beautiful," Harry said, not meeting her eyes at all. He felt weird telling her that, not because it wasn't true, but because he never expressed himself while growing up with the Dursley's. Emotions and expressing them were still out of reach to him, but Hermione smiled and gently took his hand in hers.

"You may, my Lord."

Harry snapped his head up and grinned, before looking a little confused as he held up his hands in the waltz position, looking wary. Hermione smiled and grabbed his hands, placing them on her hips much to his shock. She successfully managed to suppress a chuckle when his eyes comically widened.

She then placed her own on his shoulders and helped sway them side to side. With her leg, it would have been difficult to waltz, another con against the Ball. This was much more relaxed and...intimate.

She watched the worry melt away from Harry's face as he found that this was much easier and a lot more fun, no risk of him stepping on her toes. As the song progressed, the space between the two closed. Harry had both of his hands on the small of her back, Hermione's arms were wrapped around his neck, as she leaned her head on his right shoulder, inhaling his wonderful scent.

"Do you like your present?" Hermione asked, a little uncertain as she looked at him through her lashes. All uncertainty melted away at the bright smile plastered on Harry's face. She swore that it was going to crack his face in half and she wanted to make sure those smiles made even more appearances in the future.

"Hermione, it's brilliant! I can't even tell you how much I love it. Thank you so much," Harry replied. He felt his palms starting to sweat as he wanted to know, "Did you like yours?"

"Harry, it's absolutely lovely. You're right, I don't normally wear jewelry, but I'll wear this every day." Hermione beamed and Harry felt incredible at her words. He glanced down to the bracelet on her dainty wrist, a swell of pride filling him that he picked a good gift for her. "The book is also amazing. I can't wait to read it."

"I was hoping that maybe...you and I could become animagi. Sirius said that he'd help us out with the potion and..."

"Harry, I'd love to."

The two felt something forge within them. Deeper than the friendship they shared and it definitely wasn't unpleasant, quite the contrary - comforting and warm. Hermione liked being in Harry's arms, Harry liked having Hermione in his arms. He wished that the song would last forever with the way he was feeling. There was no worries about a tournaments, no worries about a megalomaniac trying to kill him, it was just him and Hermione together, dancing in her living room on Christmas.

It was so normal and it was absolutely _perfect._

"I'm glad you're here," Hermione whispered in Harry's ear, feeling her cheeks flush pink at the admittance. Harry slightly turned his head to look at her and smiled, before leaning in to her ear.

"I'm glad I'm here and not at some stuffy ball. I'm glad I'm here...with you," Harry whispered back, feeling his own face flush. They both pulled back and smiled at each other, just as the song ended. Hermione leaned forward and kissed Harry's cheek again.

It was a Happy Christmas indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Harry Connick Jr.'s cover of 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?' fit the scene in my mind. I hope that you liked Dumbledore in this scene. Dia Menty's is a jewelry store I created for Hogsmeade.**

**What did you think? Like Harry said, much better than some stuffy ball.**

**Next: A date, New Years Eve, and some sugar.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Neville and Luna will not be a couple in this story. In fact, I rather think that them paired together is a little overdone in HHr stories, so I have someone in mind to pair with Neville. Everyone likes reading something different, right? Don't worry, I have Luna together with someone else, but not until like fifth or sixth year, and I'm not too sure if she'll play a big part, because again, I think she's a little overdone. You'll get a little teaser of who Neville is going to be paired with in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

The Yule Ball was just about to start and the three champions were lining up outside the hall with their dates. The three champions were very confused, however, and were thinking the same question. _'Where is the fourth champion?'_

Fleur Delacour was already annoyed at her date, Roger Davies, who kept staring at her and she wasn't even using her veela allure! He was practically drooling like a baby, not able to hold together a coherent sentence, and oogled her like she was a piece of meat. It made her uncomfortable, just like it did when any other man or woman did it.

Fleur was incredibly proud of her rather unique heritage, but there were some aspects that she didn't like. She was never taken seriously, especially by her classmates at Beauxbatons and any male she came in contact with, which was what prompted her to enter this tournament. To show that she wasn't just a pretty face, that she wasn't just a quarter Veela. She wanted to show them that she was also a formidable and intelligent witch which was the reason she lashed out at first about Harry Potter being in the tournament.

At first, she was a little incensed the _'little boy'_ as she called Harry Potter when his name came out of the Goblet because she had listened to the talk about him being arrogant, but she saw the look on his face and he looked _terrified_. It was quite obvious to anyone with a brain that the boy didn't enter. She really wanted to apologize to him during the Ball, but he was no where to be found. She shook away those thoughts and glanced behind her, seeing Diggory and Krum, but no Harry Potter.

Thinking back to her weeks here at Hogwarts, which had been interesting to say the least, she had to respect Harry Potter's defense of the fourth year Ravenclaw named Hermione Granger. After talking to her Housemate, Cho Chang, who called the girl a 'know-it-all muggleborn bookworm', it plummeted the Veela's opinion of the Asian witch to the ground. She understood what it was like to be ostracized because of differences, whether it be circumstances of birth, which they both shared, or personal traits, and it seemed that the other girls at Hogwarts were not as tolerant.

Snarky comments from Marietta Edgecomb and the general agreement from her circle of friends made Fleur think twice about associating herself with them. Fleur deducted that many of the Ravenclaws, despite their intelligence, were snobs who had no disregard for others feelings. Fleur was quite tempted to let her Veela side show and dare them to make fun of her because she was different.

She had made it her new mission to apologize to Harry Potter, possibly befriend him, and Hermione Granger too. Maybe she could help the muggleborn witch understand that she wasn't alone.

Cedric Diggory was ignoring his girlfriend's idle and vapid chatting as he glanced around for any sign of Harry Potter. Since he had given him that clue about the dragons, he planned on repaying the favor and giving him a clue about the egg along with the password to the prefects bathroom.

The Hufflepuff had watched Potter during the first task and was incredibly impressed with the spell that he used to get the egg. When he questioned his father about it, Amos informed Cedric that the spell was incredibly hard to accomplish and took a lot of power to do so.

The Gryffindor had impressed him in the last couple of weeks, keeping his head high through the whispers and name calling, defending the Granger girl from taunts, facing the task head on and finding a bloody brilliant way to complete it. Cedric was sure that at fourteen, he would never had been able to do what Potter did. His respect had gone up many notches for him.

Viktor Krum was wary and also confused about Harry Potter. The aloof seeker was usually good at reading people, just like he could read someone's moves in Quidditch, but this Potter boy seemed to be an enigma to him. He noticed him spending a lot of time together in the library with Hermione Granger, who also intrigued him. She wasn't following him around like an annoying fan girl, she was also in the library reading and from talk around the school she was the best in her year. It also seemed that wherever she was, Potter could be found as well.

He glanced around for any sign of the 'Boy-Who-Lived' but couldn't and wondered where he was. He was already on edge for the past couple of months, everyone at Durmstrang seemed to be waiting for something to happen while his Headmaster seemed jumpy, nervous all the time. He had no idea what was going on, but it unsettled him, just like the clue to the second task did.

He shook his head and glanced down to his beautiful date, Tracey Davis, a rare smile gracing his lips. He had planned on asking Hermione Granger to go the Ball, but overheard that she wasn't going, so he asked the Slytherin.

His attention was directed to the Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress as she called all the champions forward to enter the Great Hall.

**-oOo-**

As expected, murmurs were already flowing all around the Great Hall turned ballroom when only thee champions entered with their dates. _Three champions? Where was the fourth? Where was Harry Potter?_ Everyone wanted to know where the Boy-Who-Lived was, they kept craning their necks to see him enter while the champions opened with a dance, assuming that maybe he was just late.

It was only when the Headmaster appeared to make an announcement, "Our fourth champion has been excused from the ball and will be away for the rest of the holidays under personal reasons. Thank you and enjoy."

"Bloody course the 'Boy-Who-Lived' gets special treatment," Ron Weasley muttered from his table, his date - who was also his _sister_ after he had failed to achieve the task in getting a date - sat next to him.

Everyone still snickered over his attempt at asking Fleur Delacour to the ball, which was how Roger Davies scored her as his date. The poor Veela was shaken up at someone practically screaming at her an invitation to the Ball, she just nodded to Davies' question. All the fourth year and up witches witnessed that scene and were intent on finding dates since they did not want to go with Ron Weasley.

Ginerva Weasley was looking crestfallen that Harry wasn't here. She had gotten all dressed up in her best, making sure that her mother forewent buying Ron new robes and bought her a new dress. She had Lavender and Parvati pull her hair up and do her makeup. She looked absolutely perfect and this was supposed to be the night that he'd see her not as Ron's little sister, and he'd start to fall in love with her. The whole thing was ruined. She suspected that Hermione Granger had something to do with it and silently fumed from her seat.

It was bad enough she had to have her brother take her as a date, there was no way she was going to dance with him, how embarrassing!

Some of the smarter students put two and two together. Harry wasn't here, neither was Hermione Granger. Could they be somewhere else _together? _It was obvious how close they were getting, disappearing to unknown whereabouts only to reappear later...still together. Some speculated they were disappearing to broom closets to snog, which angered many pureblood princesses who wished to snatch the 'Boy-Who-Lived' for themselves.

They decided that they needed to get the message through to the muggleborn that Potter was off-limits to her and the rest of _kind._

While Harry Potter never drifted far from their minds, The Weird Sisters started playing and the Ball was in full swing. Professor Dumbledore watched from his spot, chatting happily with the staff as they ate and observed the students having a great time.

A pair of icy blue eyes were scanning the Ball. Her date, Theo Nott, had tried to cop of feel through her emerald robes and it was only the threat to practice the severing curse on his family jewels that made him stop. _'Pathetic,' _she sneered in her head as he flickered his eyes away from her bust when she glared at him.

Daphne Greengrass, despite her beautiful appearance, had a way to fade into the background and observe. It was a gift, she decided, because she was a wonderful spectator, opting to stay out of any childish rubbish around school, like the immature _Harry Potter Stinks _badges made by the dolt known as Draco Malfoy.

She perked up when she saw a certain sandy haired wizard, who had intrigued her ever since he and Potter had mended the bridges and become friends again, walk out of the hall. Longbottom seemed to stand taller, with more poise and confidence. He had noticeably lost some of his pudgy weight, especially the baby fat in his face, showing handsome features. She gracefully stood up from her chair, ignoring her ignoramus date asking where she was going and walked out of the Great Hall after him.

**-oOo-**

Neville Longbottom had a large smile on his face as he strolled through the warmed snowy gardens. He was alone and didn't even care, he was having such a great time at the ball with his date, Katie Bell. Of course, they were only going as friends since Katie played for the _other _Quidditch team, but he was happy to go with her as she was very nice and funny.

He had decided to get some air and had heard that the gardens were warmed so everyone could take a stroll if they wanted. It didn't even matter that Neville wasn't at the Ball with a romantic date. Everything in his life had been getting better since he apologized to Harry for going along with the crowd and believing that he had entered.

In the back of his mind, he knew that Harry didn't enter, but sometimes it was hard to go against the grain of the popular opinion. He didn't like what everyone was saying about Harry, because he knew that he was nothing like a 'cheat' or a 'liar'. He knew that he needed to stand on his own two feet with his own opinions, or else he'd remain timid and shy.

Ever since he took that step and apologized, he felt so much lighter an a bit more confident with the pride in himself. He knew that his parents would have been proud of him.

"Neville Longbottom," the boy in question turned around to that smooth voice, only for his eyes widen as he saw who it belonged to. "I don't think we've formally met. I'm Daphne Greengrass."

Daphne could be considered the most beautiful witch in the castle with long blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and naturally red lips. Some muggleborn or muggle-raised students compared her to Aurora Rose from Sleeping Beauty, but she gave off this aloof vibe that prevented you from approaching her.

Contrary to popular belief based on stereotypes of her appearance, she was very smart, only a couple of places behind Hermione in the rankings of their class.

The Greengrass family, despite being purebloods, were from France did not drink the Voldemort pureblood supremacy kool-aid. This caused for Daphne and her sister, Astoria, to not have many friends in the Slytherin House except each other. She never really minded though, she would rather have her sister as company that people who worshiped a crazy wizard with some serious issues against muggleborns and half-bloods.

"H-How do you do?" the Gryffindor stuttered out, taking Daphne's dainty and offered hand and kissed the back of it in the formal pureblood greeting. He grimaced remembering his grandmother's lessons when he was ten.

"I am well, thank you for asking," Daphne smiled at Neville, which made his heartbeat race. "So, where is Harry Potter? Do you know?"

Neville's rising mood promptly fell to the snow covered ground and inwardly sighed. Of course she was just interested in Harry, no one would be interested in him. Daphne, however, caught the look on his face and smiled, "I was just wondering because he's been the talk of the Ball and I'm naturally curious. You two seem closer than him and the redheaded weasel too."

"I actually don't know. I saw him getting ready, but..." Neville shrugged, his gaze dropping to the floor. He really had no idea how to act as the most beautiful witch in the castle - in his opinion - was talking to him.

"Why don't we take a walk?" she asked and Neville stared at her in shock for a second, trying to comprehend what she just said. She waited patiently before he shyly offered his arm and she smiled, placing her hand in the crook of his elbow.

"I hear that you're the top of our class in Herbology," Daphne started, a blush gracing Neville's cheeks.

"Yes, it's the one class I'm good at."

"Do you think that you can help me?"

Neville stopped walking and blinked, "You...you want_ me_ to t-tutor you?"

"Yes," Daphne nodded. "I would really appreciate the help."

Neville's insecurities and self-doubt reared their ugly heads and anger rose in him. "No," she looked over at him in shock, seeing the anger set into his face. "No, I'm not going to tutor you just so you can joke about it to your friends. Or are you just using me to get a better grade? If that's the case, no way."

Daphne was surprised by the anger he was speaking with in his accusations, warranted accusations she understood considering all the shit Draco Malfoy had put him through. She wasn't lying when she said she needed help, despite her ast name being Greengrass, she had no green thumb and was truly rubbish at anything in that general likeness. It was also the perfect opportunity to get to know Neville better.

She was pleasantly shocked by the fire in his words and how he was standing up straighter, sticking up for himself. It made him look even more attractive to the Slytherin.

"Neville," she gently laid a hand on his arm and stopping him from storming away. "I'm being serious. I also don't appreciate being associated with that wanker, Malfoy," Daphne said, before trying the desperation technique with a little poutiness for good measure. "Please, I'm close to failing."

Neville studied her face for a bit, reading if she was serious or not before sighing. "Okay, but I'm not doing your work for you. I'm going to _help_ you," Neville said, the fire still in his eyes and Daphne smiled, nodding her head.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect you to do my work for me. Thank you, Neville. Sincerely."

"Uh, y-yeah, sure," shy-Neville was back and Daphne couldn't help but find this side endearing. Like a little adorable puppy, though she hoped to see the Rottweiler side of him again. The two walked back into the Great Hall where Daphne dragged him over to the dance floor as a slow song came on.

Ignoring all the disbelieving stares and whispers, they danced smoothly together, thanks to pureblood classes on dancing, and had a great time spending the rest of the night together.

Too soon in their opinion, it was close to midnight and the end of the Ball.

"Walk me back to the dungeons?" Daphne asked.

"Sure," Neville said, more confident in her presence as he offered her his arm. He walked her back to the dungeons where she turned to him.

"I had fun tonight," Daphne said before leaning up and kissing Neville's cheek, shocking the boy and turning him red in embarrassment. "Happy Christmas," Daphne said, smiling at Neville before gliding away.

Neville glanced down to his arm and pinched himself, "Nope, not dreaming."

Safe to say the Longbottom scion went to sleep with a large smile on his face.

**-oOo-**

Harry had a large smile on his face.

He had started out the day, a little unsure of everything. First of all, he was in Hermione's house and though they had spent a lot of alone time together, he just felt a little awkward.

It was all washed away almost immediately. Hermione had shown him the guest room and bathroom the night before after their little dance, the smile on his face starting then when he thought about it. He took a shower and got dressed, smelling bacon and eggs as soon as he walked into the hallway.

When he followed the smell and walked into the kitchen, he saw Emma by the stove cooking while Dan sat at the table with Hermione, chatting happily about something. The scene sparked a bit of jealousy inside of him. It was what he yearned for, a regular family breakfast, not like the Dursleys old stuffy breakfasts where he fed his relatives while the pig-in-a-wig stuffed his fat face.

Their was a warm rapport between the Grangers that he desperately wanted someday with his own family. Hermione laughed at something her father said while Emma looked over with a fond smile. She then caught sight of Harry and smiled at him. "Oh, good morning, Harry," Emma said, filling a plate with bacon, pancakes, and eggs and placing it on the table in the kitchen.

"Morning," he replied, taking the seat she motioned him to. Hermione and Dan gave their good mornings and Harry replied, holding eye contact with Hermione for a bit and seeing her smile secretively at him. There was a faint blush on her cheeks and he grinned back, before dropping his gaze to his plate.

Hermione and Harry were cleaning up breakfast after her parents left for work. She washed, he dried, and they had just finished when she asked him, "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Uhm...we can do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me," Harry shrugged.

Hermione thought for a couple of minutes, "Well, we could take a walk, or watch movies here, or go to the theatre to see a movie..."

"The last one sounds good," Harry said, putting the last dish in the cabinet.

"There's this small café near the theatre, so we could go get lunch after?"

Harry then thought about it and hesitantly asked, "Hermione, would you consider this...a date?"

Hermione blushed but her analyzing brain needed to process this. "Well, we are going to a meal and a movie so it could be classified as a date..if you want it to be," she added the last part a bit unsure.

_'Ask the question! This is the opportune moment, take it!'_ Harry screwed up his courage and looked Hermione right in her brown eyes. "Hermione, would you go on a date with me?"

She smiled brilliantly, "I'd love to."

**-oOo-**

The theatre was only ten minutes from Hermione's house and it was sunny out, so the two decided to just walk. They walked side by side, chatting pleasantly about everything and nothing. Harry kept stealing glances over to Hermione, he couldn't keep his eyes off her as she talked a book she was reading. He was listening, but his attention kept getting caught on her appearance.

She wore a dark blue beanie that matched her House color, along with her Ravenclaw scarf. She had a black pea coat on, jeans, and boots. Her cheeks were flushed from the brisk air and her nose was a little red. Her brown eyes sparkled in the reflection of the sun on snow.

He once called her plain, and he couldn't think of a word more wrong to describe Hermione. _'She really is beautiful,' _he thought before seeing her turn to him and realized that she had asked him something. "Huh?"

She smiled at him, "I asked you how do you think the ball was?"

"Oh. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really care. I had a much better time being here," Harry said with a smile, Hermione returning it. He looked at her hand slightly swinging at her side as she walked. Summoning all his courage he reached out and took her hand in his. She looked over to him slightly shocked and he gulped. "Is this okay?"

She smiled and intertwined their fingers, "Now it is."

The two had decided to see _'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'_ and sat in the middle of the theatre. A little into the movie, Hermione leaned over, "The guy who plays Frankenstein looks kind of like Professor Lockhart, don't you think?"

Harry grimaced at the thought of their incompetent DADA professor and shook his head. "I don't see it."

Hermione's arm was on the arm rest and Harry's hand itched to take hers. He kept glancing down to it and debated in his head. '_Will she get mad? She didn't when we held hands on the way here? You know what, bugger it,'_ he thought reaching over and laying his hand over her, his heart beating out of his chest. He felt her hand turn over and intertwined their fingers once more, soothing his nerves.

Though she didn't look over, he saw a smile on her face as she kept her eyes on the screen which might have looked a little odd to others in the theatre since the monster was in the middle of ripping Elizabeth's heart out, but Harry couldn't help but smile too. After the movie, they walked hand in hand to the small cafe, happy that it was almost empty and sat at a corner table. They joked all throughout their meal, their easy rapport ever present.

"Thank you for today, Harry," Hermione said as soon as they arrived back at her house and squeezed his hand which hadn't left hers since they left the cafe.

Harry decided to take a note from Hermione's book and placed a kiss on her cheek. "It was my pleasure, Hermione."

**-oOo-**

"Harry, we usually go to our friend's New Years Party. Would you be okay with that?" Dan asked at breakfast the day after Harry and Hermione's date.

Harry nodded, "Of course, but I don't think my dress robes would blend in."

"Don't worry, I'll take you out shopping today to get something."

"Oh, okay, but could we stop at Gringotts first so I can get some mon-"

"Don't worry about it, Harry, this is my treat," Dan said, waving him off.

"Oh, you really don-" Harry felt a hand slip into his and glanced over to Hermione, who gave him a look that he could read easily_. 'He wants to do this for you, just let him.' _It was pretty scary how he and Hermione were able to have silent conversations. "Thank you, Dan, I'd really appreciate that."

Dan drove them to London to go shopping. Hermione and Emma separated from the guys to go shopping for dresses while Dan took Harry to a tailor that he frequented. Harry getting fitted when he asked Dan about this party they were going to.

"Em and I met Pete Lovett at college and we opened up our dental practice together. Hermione usually opts to not go, though."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because Pete's circle of friends includes kids who she went to school with before Hogwarts. They weren't very nice to her," Dan admitted.

"Why is she going now?" Harry asked. He'd be fine with staying home with Hermione, but she seemed quite excited for the party.

"You," he said simply.

"Me?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes, she feels safe with you. She also wants to show _them_ that she's not the same little girl that they liked to pick on," Dan said and Harry frowned, determination burning inside of him. The thought of his Housemates ganging up on her in the hallway, Malfoy cursing, and all those tarts that asked him to the Ball badmouthing her flashed through his mind. Dan could even feel the magical energy cackling around him and saw the deadly expression on Harry's face.

Harry realized where he was and close his eyes, taking a couple of breaths to calm himself. "I can assure you, Dan, no one will be picking on Hermione. Not if I have anything to say about it."

"That's why I like you, Harry," Dan said as they walked to the register to pay. "Hermione said that you defended her from a bunch of your Housemates but she snapped at you and as in pain. Her letters following that were very self-deprecating."

"I never blamed her for that. I understood immediately why she snapped at me."

"She thought she was going to lose you as a friend, but said even if that happened, she would find a way to help you with the tournament. She said she would sneak you books that you needed if need be," Dan said with a small smile as they walked out of the store.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that and the words escaped his mouth before he could stop them. "That's why I like your daughter, Dan. Among other things..."

Dan almost laughed at Harry's wide eyes and fish out of water impression, but remained stern. He had to maintain the overprotective father. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about, Harry. I'm going to ask the cliché father's question, what are your intentions toward my daughter?"

Harry wanted to shrink into his shell facing down the six-foot-two Dan Granger who was sternly looking at Harry with narrowed brown eyes. Brown eyes. Harry then had a picture of Hermione's smiling face with sparkling brown eyes and it filled him with determination and confidence.

Dan watched impressed as the boy straightened up and met his gaze. He was a fair bit shorter than Dan, probably around five-foot-eight, he was really only a couple of inches taller than Hermione, but he felt like he was meeting him eye to eye. He set his jaw in a defiant like manner, showing that he wasn't backing down from Dan's intimidation technique.

He held the ferocity of a lion as he spoke. "Your daughter, in simple terms, is wonderful. She's kind and caring and intelligent. All of my friends abandoning me this year was the greatest thing to ever happen to me because it led me to Hermione. She's...the most important person in my life."

"Really?" Dan asked, a bit disbelieving, "Not your godfather, or that former teacher of yours?"

"Sirius is my godfather and while I do care about him and he cares about me, he likes to keep his distance. After I went to live with him, I realized that when my parents died, he experienced the loss of his brother in all but blood, and that hurt him. Right after that hurt, he was put in Azkaban for twelve years, isolated. Now, he prefers to keep people at arms length, including me, to avoid that pain. Sometimes I think I'm just a replacement for my father."

Harry naïvely thought after his godfather was proven innocent thanks to Amelia Bones, he was going to have the family he always dreamed of, but it didn't work out that way. Azkaban really messed with Sirius' mind and happiness. He doesn't like to get too close to Harry, and sometimes when he hit the firewhiskey too hard, he'll call him James.

"I've really only known Remus for a little over a year. He, like Sirius, keeps his distance because of his lycanthropy. He's scared of the pain of rejection. I do care for them deeply, but it's different with Hermione. Technically, I've actually known her longer than I've known both of them," Harry said, Dan keeping his eyes on him as Harry's word vomit continued.

"I need Hermione to be happy. If she's not happy, then I need to do something...anything to make her happy. I like hugging her and sometimes I think of kissing her, but I'm scared of her rejecting me. I mean, who would want me with all my baggage, but those feelings get wiped out in a second because Hermione makes me feel important and wanted. She's the first person to ever hug me, did you know that? I can safely say that I've gotten addicted to Hermione Granger's hugs," Harry admitted with a smile, just thinking about her smiling face and the warm feeling that accompanied seeing it.

"Everyone in the wizarding world thinks I'm so bloody great because I'm the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and Hermione doesn't care about that. I'm just another person and as odd as it sounds, I can't tell you how special that makes me feel. Your daughter is not to mention absolutely beautiful, inside and out. I want to protect her from any harm, I won't allow anyone to bully her ever again."

Dan was silent after Harry's little speech, taking it in. "Well, Harry," Dan started in a neutral tone, watching a glimmer of worry enter the boy's green eyes, before Dan smiled wide and clapped Harry on the back. Everything he just said was what a father wants to hear. "I wholeheartedly approve of you. You have my full blessing to date her if that's what you two decide."

Harry smiled broadly as they walked over to where they were going to meet the girls for lunch. Still keeping his gaze straight, Dan added, "You know if you hurt her, there's not a force on this Earth that will stop me from hurting you tenfold."

"Actually, I think you should check me into a psychiatric hospital first, because I would have completely lost my mind if I ever hurt Hermione," Harry said without a second thought, keeping his own gaze straight.

His answer, once again, placed a smile on Dan's face.

**-oOo-**

Harry was standing in the living room next to an impatient Dan Granger, who was checking his watch every couple of minutes. Both of the men were dressed in their tuxedos for the party which were much more comfortable than the dress robes. "Girls, we don't want to be late," Dan called up the stairs where the girls were getting ready.

"I'm coming, Daniel, hold your horses," Emma grumbled as she walked down the steps, placing an earring in her right ear.

"You look lovely, wife," Dan said as she leaned down to kiss Emma, who giggled. Harry smiled at the affectionate scene, before averting his eyes away. He hoped to have that someday between him and his own wife. The love between the Granger parents was obvious to see and every time Harry imagined him and his own future wife, he couldn't help but notice that she had big brown eyes and curly brown hair.

Shaking his head of those thoughts he turned to Hermione's mum. "You look very nice, Emma."

"Thank you, Harry," she said, smiling as she put on the other earring. "Hermione Jane, let's go."

"I'm coming," Hermione answered, walking down the stairs. Harry's eyes widened and his mouth went dry when he saw Hermione's appearance.

She was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved flowy dress that ended a couple of inches above her knees, black stockings, and a pair of black flats. She had the charm bracelet on her arm along with a pair of diamond studs on her ears. Her hair had been pulled into a low side bun, a couple of curly tendrils framing her face.

Speaking of her face, a light layer of makeup had been added including mascara which brightened her eyes a bit and some blush giving her an angelic appearance in Harry's opinion. She looked breathtaking and Harry didn't even know his jaw had dropped until Dan pushed it back up with an audible snap as teeth hit teeth. Emma was giggling from the side while Hermione was just smiling shyly at Harry.

"Hermione...you look beautiful," Harry said in awe and Hermione's smile brightened.

"Thank you, Harry. You look very handsome."

"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Dan asked, breaking the teens staring contest. Harry formally offered Hermione his arm and they walked out to the Grangers car.

**-oOo-**

Dan pulled the car down the large driveway to the Lovett's family manor that was a bit smaller than Potter Manor. It was very nice, a lot of land surrounding it and Harry figured they could even put a Quidditch Pitch in the backyard.

As soon as they were inside, Hermione took Harry's hand as the house was crowded with people. Dan and Emma led them through the crowd until Dan's name was called by someone. Harry saw a blond man about the Granger's age and a handsome face shake Dan and Emma's hand. He chatted with them for a bit before catching sight of Harry and Hermione and introducing himself to them.

"Oh, well, look who it is," Hermione heard a voice she hadn't heard for a while and turned around to see two blonde twins standing there with smirks on their faces. Their dresses were scandalously short and tight, showing off their womanly attributes and they eyed Harry like he was a piece of meat. They were the bane of Hemione's existence in primary school.

"Katrina, Irina, nice to see you again," Hermione said politely, feeling Harry squeeze her hand with a hidden message, _'I'm here.'_

"Nice to see you too, Hermione, and who is this?" they said in unison, showing off for Harry, who just looked at them indifferently.

"Harry Potter," he said with a nod of his head. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet _you,_" they purred in unison, giggles following it. "So where did you meet our little Hermione here?"

"We go to the same boarding school. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were kind enough to let me spend the holidays with Hermione," Harry said, smiling over to the brunette girl and squeezing her hand. "Hermione, I'm rather parched. Why don't we go get a drink? Excuse me, ladies."

The twins jaws dropped at Harry's dismissal despite their best attempts to sway him. To make a point, Harry dropped Hermione's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her away before sending an icy glare to them as he passed. Safe to say the twins were not seen again for the rest of the night. Hermione just smiled at Harry and did nothing to discourage the arm from her waist.

All in all, Harry and Hermione had a wonderful time, even dancing to a couple of slow songs together, their cheeks hurting from all of their smiling. Near midnight, everyone started congregating outside and Harry and Hermione found a spot a little ways from everyone for some privacy. "6...5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year!"

Auld Lang Syne started playing from inside as they set the fireworks off and New Years kisses were being shared. "Wow," Harry breathed out when the fireworks went off, the different colors filling the cloudless sky.

"Happy New Years, Harry."

He turned to see Hermione smiling at him, her face lighting up from the fireworks in the sky, which wasn't half as pretty as she was. "Happy New Years, Hermione," he replied, both of them holding eye contact. They didn't know who moved first, or if they moved at the same time, but both started leaning toward each other. Hermione trailed her hands up Harry's arms until they rested on his shoulders and his arms were around her waist, the distance between their faces could only be measured by inches.

Their noses bumped and they slightly jumped back, before trying again. Harry could feel her sweet breath on his lips and saw her tongue flick out to wet her bottom lip. He reacted accordingly. _'Gryffindors charge,' _he thought determined before pressing his lips to hers softly.

There was no fabled fireworks in the kiss, not including the fireworks in the sky. No, there was warmth and comfort and acceptance and every good emotion the teens had ever felt. The feelings were bouncing back and forth between them in the kiss.

The first kiss was simple, chaste and a little awkward, just to test the waters, but it was the first kiss for either of them and they didn't want it to be the last that they shared with each other. They smiled wide and unabashedly at each other when they pulled back, before Hermione reached up to cup his cheek and pressed her lips against his, testing the waters even more, opening their mouths the tiniest bit.

When they pulled back, Hermione laid her head on his shoulder as they turned to watch the fireworks, Harry wrapping both arms around her and leaning his head on hers, both wearing smiles that could split their faces.

**-oOo-**

Harry couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, but he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position. They had gotten home from the party two hours ago and Harry was concerned that it was the best night of his life. Kissing Hermione was incredible. Better than finding out he was a wizard, better than catching a snitch, better than anything he had ever experienced before.

But, something was wrong. He had an unsettling feeling in his gut as he stared at the ceiling. He kept seeing bad images flash across his eyes; Hermione crying after Ron insulted her, Hermione sitting by herself in the Great Hall, friendless; Hermione's hands after someone sent her that bubotuber pus; Hermione crying after being ganged up on by his Housemates.

He sat up out of bed and tip-toed out of his room, walking downstairs. He didn't exactly know where his feet were taking him, but he needed to move or else the pictures in his head were going to eat him alive.

A half an hour later, he found himself on the living room couch with his head in his hands. He couldn't stop the images from coming, they were taunting him and he felt like a giant weight was settling on his chest. He couldn't breathe.

"Harry, what is it, sweetheart?" he snapped his head up to see Dan and Emma walking down the stairs.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No. Call it a parents intuition to know when something is wrong with a child," Emma said, taking a seat on Harry's right, Dan on his left.

"Do you want to tell us what's wrong, son?"

That word triggered something in Harry, how they were already treating Harry with such kindness despite meeting him a week before. In order to feel like he deserved their trust, he needed to talk to them. "Did Hermione ever tell you about the troll incident?"

"She told us that Ron Weasley insulted her and that she was in the bathroom crying when the troll came in. She just said that it was wrong place, wrong time," Emma said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder in concern.

"Well, it could have been prevented. _I _could have prevented her getting hurt," Harry admitted. There it was, the truth was out in the open.

"Harry, you couldn't have-"

Harry shook his head, the tears falling steadily down his cheeks. He had never cried in front of anyone before, he never liked to show himself crying, especially after Vernon locked him in the cupboard for crying after a particularly bad 'Harry Hunting' session. He couldn't help it as he looked at Hermione's parents, who showed him the acceptance that he never showed their daughter in their years before this one. He was undeserving of it.

How could he have treated Hermione with indifference when everyone made fun of her? How could he have sat back and laughed when Ron imitated her from Charms class? What kind of person was he? He understood what it was like to be bullied with Dudley, why would he allow someone else to be put through the same treatment he was.

"No, Emma, you don't understand. I don't think you'll even want me in your house after what I tell you."

Those words made Dan want to get angry, but knew that he needed an explanation before wanting to crucify this kid, and the look from his wife that said _'shut it or you're sleeping on the couch'_ cooled his anger a bit.

"It's okay, Harry. You can tell us," Emma soothed him.

Harry took a couple of seconds to compose himself before opening his mouth and letting the words just spill out. "Ron was my first friend. Growing up, and please don't ask for details, I didn't have any friends. My cousin scared them away and I was so appreciative to have a friend, I didn't really care what he did as long as he accepted me. On the train to Hogwarts, Hermione came in looking for my friend, Neville's, toad. She was already helping someone and she helped me too, repairing my broken glasses. Her and Ron immediately clashed and it all built up to Halloween when he said some really mean things about her and I laughed...I laughed!" Harry choked out through the tears, his throat tightening.

"Hermione heard and I saw her run off to the bathroom, crying. We made her cry and I didn't even care," he felt bile rising in his stomach but choked it down. He felt like "I didn't even give her a second thought while I was at the Halloween feast with my friends, enjoying my time and having fun. I didn't give her a second thought when we found out about the troll. I didn't even have any guilt."

Harry shook his head, looking so defeated and disgusted with himself. "I'm a bad person and I don't deserve yours or Hermione's care. She's been so great and I've been nothing but an arse to her all these years. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Harry, you were a child and you made mistakes," Dan Granger started, laying a hand on his shoulder. Oh, he was incredibly angry at Harry's actions, or lack thereof before, but he was _just _a child back then. He was a young man now who was showing true remorse for his actions and it's incredibly mature of him to apologize. He couldn't deny that the boy made his daughter happy and her letters had picked up the last month.

Hermione was born premature, teetering on the edge of living and dying. Later in life, he always joked that it was her impatience and maturity started right out of the womb. Due to the complications in her pregnancy, Emma wasn't able to conceive any more children so both parents devoted everything to their only child.

Dan only wanted the best for Hermione and whatever would make her happy. She was happy with this boy and he knew that Harry would take care of her. Oh, he would assure that he did. Hermione had told them all about the tale of Harry Potter defeating the 'Dark Lord' as a baby, but Dan knew that Lord Voldyshorts or whatever his bloody name was would be no match against Dan Granger if he saw one tear slip down Hermione's cheek that Harry put there.

He was already itching to take a hunting trip for a red weasel. No one hurt Hermione without answering to Dan Granger about it, and he felt better that he could rely on Harry to watch out for her at Hogwarts.

"A person's true character is shown with how they handle the mistakes they make. If they brush it off, or if they show remorse and apologize. If you truly need this, we forgive you, Harry. You've been taking care of our daughter, you've befriended her, all is forgiven." Emma said as she wrapped her arms around the now sobbing boy.

"Why don't you hate me? You should despise me, you should be disgusted to even be ar-"

"I said that we forgive you, Harry, not that we'll ever forget about how you treated our daughter. We'll never forget the pain she was in, but the burden of not forgiving someone who is truly sorry is too much and takes too much energy. Forgiveness is given, but we will never forget," Dan Granger explained, which actually helped Harry feel better, that they weren't just forgiving him and brushing it aside.

Harry cried and cried and cried in Emma's motherly arms, he was letting everything that had bubbled up inside of him out. He was exorcising all the thoughts inside of him and letting them out. He was taking a step in the right direction with showing his feelings. It would only get easier after this.

He felt Emma's arms disappear from around him and he assumed that she came to her senses and hated him. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't, but then he felt arms go around him once more. The familiar feeling of safety and comfort welled up inside of him and he glanced up to meet the tearful brown eyes of Hermione.

She gave him a small, but beautiful, smile and brushed away the tears from his face with the pad of her thumbs. From the look on her face, he realized that she heard everything and felt oddly lighter. He melted into her embrace, burying his face in her neck and just said, _"I'm sorry!"_, over and over again, not able to convey how truly repentant he was for all the shit he had directly and indirectly put her through.

The Grangers knew that the two teens needed alone time so Hermione could help heal Harry, so Emma placed a kiss on Harry's head and Dan squeezed his shoulder, before making their ascent upstairs.

Just like when she apologized for snapping at him, she knew he needed to hear these words. "I forgive you, Harry. I forgive you, so please forgive yourself," Hermione whispered once they were alone before kissing both of his flushed and tearful cheeks. She then placed a sweet kiss on his wet lips. He was so incredibly overwhelmed with her compassion and forgiveness and the affection rising inside of him for her.

His already strong feelings for Hermione had multiplied that night, and he felt something starting to flicker inside of him, like a flame that was getting brighter and brighter. Whatever it was, he wanted to douse it with gas so it would burn even brighter, even hotter.

* * *

**A/N: I watched Mary Shelley's Frankenstein my senior year of high school in English class and all I could see was Professor Lockhart marrying Bellatrix Lestrange. **

**I was going to end this chapter right after the kiss, but the admittance to Hermione's parents popped into my head and I decided to write it. How are you liking Fleur? What about the Neville/Daphne dynamic going on?**

**Feel free to skip reading this, but this is my take on Ronald Weasley. First off, I don't particularly like his character. He's incredibly immature, that's a given, and while I do like reading stories where he's portrayed as evil, I feel as though I can't write him as that. I'll write him as Ron was played in canon, if a little exaggerated. He's jealous, immature, and unrepentant. His mother has coddled him so much, he believes that he can do no wrong. Mutter a little apology, with or without meaning, and all is well. A light sided Draco Malfoy. He'll say something wrong - usually to Hermione - and maybe he'll understand that it was mean, but he never apologizes and no one reprimands him for it except Hermione screaming back which ends with Harry playing peacemaker and usually siding with Ron. **

**I understand about Harry's background with the Dursleys, but would he really just stand around and let Ron bully Hermione? He offered a half assed apology to Harry after the first task, and Harry forgave him (which prompted me to write this story) and that frustrated me so much. That's just my take on Ron's character and why I do not like him. **

**It's been my experience that a big part of growing up is recognizing, showing remorse, and apologizing for your mistakes. Kind of like Hermione did after she snapped at Harry, and how Harry was in this chapter.**

**Next: An important question is asked, new friendships are made, a blossoming romance, and figuring out the clue to the second task.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Woah. I hit 1,000 followers. Just **_**wow**_**. The only thing I can say is thank you and I'm glad you're enjoying. My ma thought I was a loon because I've been walking around my house with a big dumb grin on my face.**

**Some action in this chapter, some fluff, a fight, an apology, and a clue.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 **

It was the night before they returned to Hogwarts and the two teens were sitting out on the Grangers back porch, sharing a quilt and drinking some hot chocolate to keep warm. They had a nice view of the pink sky as the sun set, the teenaged girl part of Hermione's brain was thinking that it was quite romantic given the position they were in.

They felt comfortable with each other, even more so than before. Hermione speculated that Harry opening up to her parents and her telling him to forgive himself closed a book. They could both move on from the past, and look forward to a brighter future. Hopefully together.

Ever since the breakdown, Harry felt lighter and even more comfortable with Hermione and her parents. They saw him at his most vulnerable as he didn't like people to see him cry, but they didn't judge him, they didn't think he was weak, they still treated him with the same care they did before. He thought that it might have forged a stronger connection with Hermione too.

The teens were a bit more affectionate with each other, sharing sweet short kisses and cuddling together, neither was ready for full on snogging just yet. Harry definitely liked the contact as it was described in his mind as prolonged Hermione hugs. He felt the need to just hold her hand, or keep his hand on the small of her back if they were standing close together. If the Grangers noticed, they didn't comment on it.

Even now, Hermione was sitting in between Harry's legs with her back against his chest. He held the first quilt she had ever knitted around them, but Harry's warmth was what was keeping Hermione nice and toasty. He rested his chin on her shoulder and she would sometimes catch him leaning into her neck and discreetly inhaling, before he would quietly hum in satisfaction. His arms were wrapped around her waist and hers rested above his. In simple terms, Hermione and Harry were happy.

He hadn't asked the 'question' yet, but Hermione hoped that he would soon. Obviously she knew what her answer would be. She was falling for Harry, incredibly fast and very hard, and she had no problem with it. It felt incredibly natural, like all the pieces in her life were falling together.

"I don't really want to go back tomorrow," Harry broke the silence with a weary sigh.

"Me neither," Hermione admitted, placing her hands over Harry's which rested on her stomach and intertwining their fingers. Holding hands in the theatre, Hermione noticed that there were a couple of scars on his hands, many looking like burn marks.

"What's going to happen when we go back, Harry?"

It seemed like they had formed their own little bubble in Kent, and when they went back to Hogwarts, Hermione didn't know if they could keep that bubble. She wanted to, badly, but didn't know if Harry wanted to as well.

"What do you mean?"

She blushed as she clarified, "With us."

"I want things to be the same," Harry said and Hermione's heart fell to her stomach in despair. _'He wants things to be the same as they were at school? Of course he does...'_ she thought and physically deflated.

Harry noticed Hermione's head drop to her chest and her shoulders slump. He wondered what he had said to cause that reaction and replayed his words.

His eyes widened at his poor choice of words, "No! No, Hermione, I didn't mean the same as they were." Harry gently turned Hermione and she looked up to him with glassy eyes, the sight more painful than a dagger to his heart. He leaned foward and placed a sweet peck on her lips, watching as her face brightened. "I want them to be the same as they are now. I...I've been trying to build up the courage and find the appropriate words to ask this."

"Well, go on then," Hermione encouraged mock-primly and straightened up from her dejected pose. Harry smiled at assertive Hermione being back and tenderly brushed a lock of curly hair behind her ear.

"Hermione Granger, will you be my girlfriend?"

Hermione's smile lit up her face and she nodded. "I'd love to, Harry Potter," they both just smiled at each other, Harry gazing down at his beautiful _girlfriend_. Oh, he wasn't going to tire of saying that. She then leaned in and whispered, "I think this is the part where you kiss me."

He laughed and closed the space between their faces, "I apologize for being remiss, milady." Harry said before pressing his lips against hers, muffling her laughter.

**-oOo-**

A destroyed cup sat on the Headmaster's desk after it had been destroyed. Sirius Black sat across from Albus, the only other one aware of its existence, along with the other pieces.

Being the Head of the Black family, Sirius was able to nullify Bellatrix's marriage to Lestange. Sirius was then able to have her vaults checked. Albus was able to deduce that Tom would have entrusted her with one of the pieces, just as he did with Lucius. Bellatrix was his right hand (wo)man.

"Three down," Sirius said, breaking the silence in a bittersweet voice. "When will we tell him?"

"I think that the end of this year will do," Dumbledore said, already dreading telling him of the prophecy. "I was going to wait until next year, but he has matured this year beyond my expectations."

Albus gazed at the orb on his desk. It was usually locked down in his office with the most powerful wards he could create surrounding the safe it was kept in. "I'm having some suspicions regarding Severus," Albus sadly admitted, "I think that he may have turned, but I have no real evidence to condemn him."

Sirius grimaced at the mention of Snivellus. He knew how the bastard treated his godson, he hated it, and he hated even more that he couldn't do anything about it. He wished that James hadn't stopped Moony from eating him when they were younger, a whole lot of problems could have been avoided. Ridiculously really that James saved his pathetic and worthless life, only for him to report the prophecy to Voldemort and risk their lives.

He was going to die, and Sirius only hoped he was the one to deliver the killing blow. He would do so without remorse. Revenge for Harry, for Lily, for James.

"You need to take away his Head of House title. He has too much power here," Sirius said severely, his tone not open for any arguments.

"The Slytherin House would be in an uproar with the way he treats them. If I were to have some kind of evidence against him, however, I would be able to do so," Albus said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

The Marauding brain in Padfoot started cackling with glee and a smile spread across Sirius' face. He had some planning to do.

**-oOo-**

Harry and Hermione walked hand in hand down the hall of the Express, their shrunken trunks in their pockets, the charm taught to Harry by Hermione. It was quite easy to find an empty compartment since it was just the little ones returning to Hogwarts. Both were glad that they'd have some privacy on the long way back to Hogwarts.

Harry glanced out of the corner of his eye to Hermione, seeing her walking with a small smile on her face. A lot had changed in the last two months, '_for the better_,' Harry thought. It really didn't matter anymore that he was turned on by his House, he wouldn't have it any other way with the outcome of it.

He never would have gone to the library for solace, in turn, probably would have never met Hermione. He would have tried to outfly the dragon in the first task and would have died. He wouldn't be as happy and light as he was holding that beautiful girl's hand, being able to kiss and hug her. He was seriously contemplating telling her everything, all about the Dursleys, his fears from past years, things only Sirius knew about. Things even Sirius didn't know about.

It fightened him that he trusted her that much, but it also comforted him. He knew that she wouldn't judge him or make fun of him. He felt like he finally found some missing piece he had no idea was there. He felt whole.

They sat next to each other on the express, Harry's arm wrapped around Hermione as she burrowed into him. He took the time to Hogwarts to close his eyes and organize his mind since he completed the Occlumency book. It seemed easier to concentrate with the close contact with the girl in his arms.

Hermione pulled out the animagus book that Harry got her for Christmas, eager to start the transformation. Fortunately, it said that it would take three-six months to complete the transformation and they didn't have to worry about the potion since Sirius and Remus were going to brew it for them.

She idly wondered what her form would be as the book said that your forms take on your characteristics. She hoped it wasn't something silly or embarrassing like the rat Harry told her Peter Pettigrew was.

The journey was mostly shared in relative silence, a few affectionate gestures shared between the new couple in between Harry's meditating and Hermione's reading. When they pulled into Hogsmeaded station, the two immediately walked over to a carriage for the ride back up to Hogwarts, a bit bittersweet.

When they walked through the large doors hand in hand, Harry was not hiding the fact that Hermione was his girlfriend. He saw a couple of students mingling around the hallways staring at the two, before either hurrying off or whispering to their friends. Hermione's face showed that she was slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but Harry squeezed her hand in a silent message. _'I'm here, they don't matter.'_

She smiled at him as they got to their usual dividing point of their Houses. "I'm going to put my bag away in the dorm. I'll meet you in front of the Great Hall?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded, pecking her lips once before heading toward the Gryffindor tower.

Hermione solved the riddle and walked up her tower to her dorm, seeing that her trunk was already there by her bed. Thankfully none of her roommates were there so she quickly deposited her bag on her bed and headed back down.

She was almost at the Great Hall, when she heard a most unwelcome voice.

"Well, look at this," Hermione groaned, but picked up her walking as quickly as she could, knowing that Malfoy and his two baboons were tailing her. Unfortunately, Malfoy easily caught up to Hermione and cut her off. Of course, he had a sneer on his face as he looked at her like she was the dirt beneath his shoe. "Did you spend Christmas with your filthy muggle parents, mudblood?"

"Malfoy, don't you have anything better to do than pick on me? Oh, that's right, you have no life so _this _is the high point of your day, isn't it?" Hermione asked sarcastically, her hand itching toward her wand in her pocket. She couldn't bite down the retort, every time she saw Malfoy's face she just wanted to smack the smug superiority off of it. Malfoy was a cockroach who though that he was invincible because of his daddy.

His pale face started to redden with anger, before he smirked and Hermione knew that something was going to happen. "Actually, I just wanted to give you your Christmas present," Malfoy said, whipping his wand out and sending a stinging hex to her face before she could put up a shield.

Hermione cringed and waited for the pain, which didn't come. Malfoy watched in confusion as the hex just dissolved a couple of inches in front of Herimone's face. It gave her the opportunity to whip out her own wand and disarm him, before sending a hex of her own to his face. One she had created herself.

The word **COWARD** suddenly appeared in dark red and inflamed looking pimples across Draco's forehead. Hermione had taken to finding counters for any curses and hexes, since she had been the victim of some by bullies in Hogwarts. In doing so, she found a way to create her own offensive hex she could use if the occasion arose. She didn't have the guts to cast it, unitl now. Safe to say her confidence had taken a major boost this year.

She didn't feel bad about casting it, after all, it was _Malfoy_ and he definitely deserved it for everything he had put her through. It was the first opportunity for her to use the hex, and she was quite proud of it as she looked at Malfoy. He reached up and felt the words on his face, before letting out a very girlish scream.

The spectacle had attracted many students who formed a circle around Malfoy and Hermione. They then started laughing when they saw Malfoy's forehead, many agreeing with the word.

_Coward. _It really was what Draco Malfoy personified. He hid behind his image of being the 'Silver Prince', who threatened to tattle to his daddy, who wouldn't think twice about cursing you when your back was turned, who constantly looked for the easy way out of things. He had not one ounce of courage in him.

The gruesome twosome, also known as Crabbe and Goyle, saw their leader get hexed by the mudblood and started to take their own wands out, only to feel something tap the back of their heads.

"Don't even think about it," Crabbe and Goyle heard identical voices from behind them and Hermione turned to see Fred and George Weasley with their wands raised toward their heads, ready to fire if they made a move.

With a pop, Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared from her office. Hermione knew from Hogwarts, A History that their are powerful apparation wards around the school, though she suspected someone with a mage level of magic like Dumbledore would be able to, but you can apparate from inside of the school to another part of the school, like McGonagall just did.

Professor Dumbledore had wards put up around the school that let the Deputy Headmistress know when the word 'mudblood' was even uttered under someone's breath. No one had said it until now and as she took in the scene she sighed. Surprise, surprise, it was Draco Malfoy who had said it.

"What is going on here?" she pushed through the crowd, her wand out as she took in the crying form of Draco Malfoy and had to suppress a chuckle of her own at the word across his forehead.

"Hermione!" the girl in question heard her boyfriend's voice before he pushed through the crowd, rushing over to her. "Are you okay?"

She only had time to nod before Malfoy opened his big fat mouth, digging his heels into the shit he had already stepped in. "The mudblood bitch hexed me!"

Harry's emerald eyes flashed dangerously as he whipped around to the blond ponce. "You want to say that again?" Harry hissed, stepping toward Malfoy, hands clenched at his side. He then stopped up short when he saw the word across his forehead. "Malfoy, you might want to take care of your personal hygiene and wash your face some more. Then again, it could just be residual grease from Snape's hair that splashed on your face.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall snapped at her Lion, who muttered a 'sorry', though he sounded anything but with the amused grin on his face. She wasn't exactly peeved at his comment, but she had to keep face.

"What is going on here?" Everyone turned to see Professors Snape strutting over, sneer on his face.

"I'd like to know that as well," Professor McGonagall said, before seeing the two mischievous redheads, wands still raised at Crabbe and Goyle. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, please lower your wands and tell me what is your take on what happened here?"

"Well, Professor," the boys started before Fred...or was it George...motioned for his brother to start.

"Miss Granger was walking toward the Great Hall when Malfoy here-"

"-asked if she spent Christmas with her, and I quote, 'filthy muggle parents'. He also called her a...you know...begins with an m-"

"Foul word for muggleborns-"

"A word only _cowards_ say-"

"Such a disgusting word that the speaker should be hanged by their toes from the Astronomy tower for even uttering it!" the twins glared at the red faced blond ponce, McGonagall holding up a hand to halt the dramatics.

"I understand. Please continue."

"Miss Granger responded in kind-"

"-none of her words were instigating or threatening-"

"-but, of course, Malfoy, like the brat he is, sent a stinging hex right to her face," Harry's eyes were glowing Killing Curse green as he glared at Malfoy from his spot next to Hermione, tightening the hold on her waist. His own hand was itching toward his wand to hex to git.

Protective feelings had been constantly crashing over Harry, especially since Hermione was his girlfriend. She was in a relationship with him and he was damned if anyone was going to hurt her with him around.

"The hex didn't even reach her though-"

"-it just dissolved. Bloody wicked, right Gred?"

"Indeed, Forge."

"That's because of her bracelet, Professor. Sirius helped me place Charms on it to protect her," Harry said, Hermione looking at him in surprise before smiling at him, along with every other single witch in the radius. The fact that Harry Potter bought Hermione Granger a bracelet laced with charms to protect her brought his desirable stock up even further than it was as just the 'Boy-Who-Lived'.

"Anyway, Hermione disarmed Malfoy and that's when we started coming over. She did that to his forehead-"

"-and it rather fits because he is a coward for hexing a girl who did nothing to him."

Snape, showing his glaring preference for his own House, snapped at the muggleborn witch. "A hundred points from Ravenclaw and detention for a month for attacking a fellow student."

"What?!" Harry yelled, shock and anger welling up inside of him as he glared at the self-satisfied face of Snape.

"Are you joking?" the twins asked in unison. Herimone's heart fell to the ground. She had never lost points for her House before, now she lost them a hundred _and_ detention? Her face paled and her heart rate started to pick up as well as her breathing.

"Severus!"

"What? It is my job to make sure no students in this school are bullied, isn't that right, Minerva?" Snape smirked, twisting the words of the Headmaster around. If the Scot could kill with her eyes, Severus Snape would be six feet under. "I am the Head of Slytherin House-"

"Do not forget, Professor Snape, I am also the Deputy Headmistress and your _superior_," the Lioness growled at the Potions professor. "All points Severus Snape has deducted are to be returned and no detentions will be given to Miss Granger. I was thinking along the lines of twenty points from Ravenclaw."

"Yes, ma'am." Hermione muttered with a nod. It certainly looked a lot better in comparison to a hundred points and detention.

"But, Professor-" Harry's protest was cut off by the Scot's stern glare, before she turned back to Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy, you were warned what would happen if you used that word. For saying it more than once, you'll spend two weeks detention with Mr. Filch and a hundred points docked from Slytherin."

"What?!" he shrieked, but McGonagall ignored him and turned to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, will Mr. Malfoy's forehead clear up?"

"It will be gone in two weeks, ma'am." Hermione responded politely, Malfoy's anger reaching dangerous levels at the statement.

"Two weeks?! Wait until my father hears about this, you filthy mud-" Harry moved forward to pummel the git, but before the Slytherin could get anymore out, he was silenced by Professor McGonagall. Malfoy continued to silently rant and rave while McGonagall turned to Hermione.

"I'll be sure to inform your Head of House, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said sternly, Hermione wishing the ground would open up and swallow her. She had never been reprimanded by a teacher before and felt horrible. Well, until she heard the Deputy Headmistress' next muttered words. "I'm sure Professor Flitwick will be most pleased to hear about your excellent Charms work. Thirty points to Ravenclaw."

Professor McGonagall glared at the Potions Master who swept away with an exaggerated flourish, before the Lions Head of House dragged Malfoy away, who was still silenced. The two baboons followed at the glare by McGonagall.

Once they were alone, the twins turned to Hermione, "You can't remove the hex?"

"Oh, of course I can, but she didn't ask," Hermione shrugged, all three Gryffindors smiling at her bashfully mischievious admission. Harry thought she looked so cute blushing with the slightly evil glint in her eye and didn't resist the urge to wrap an arm around her waist and kiss her cheek.

"Brilliant, Miss Granger," he murmured in her ear, his girlfriend smiling at him.

"A prank worthy of the Marauders!" the twins exclaimed in unison.

"We should recruit you for our future plans!"

"We plan on opening a joke shop after Hogwarts."

"With your brilliance helping with the charms-"

"-and our incredible pranking talent-"

"-we would make a killing!"

They then decided to butter up the deal. "And is there anything more _sexy _than a devious little witch, Fred?" George asked with a lascivious grin, making Hermione blush and duck her head.

"I don't believe there is, George," Fred said, winking at the now tomato red muggleborn and her glaring boyfriend.

"Oi!"

**-oOo-**

Harry entered the Gryffindors fourth year boys dorm with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. He was happier than he had been in a long time and it showed from his whistling as he started to unpack his clothes. He started thinking about the summer and if maybe he could spend some time at the Grangers and they could also come to the Potter's manor.

"So, did you enjoy your _Christmas_?" Harry heard a sneering voice from behind him and turned to see Ron Weasley by the door, arms folded across his chest, his face painted into a scowl. Harry just turned back to his things, shaking his head and ignoring him.

"I don't even know what you see in her." Ron said, that statement freezing Harry. "Between her hair, the teeth, and her flat body, it's no wonder she has to resort to _other techniques _to get people interested. Is she an easy fuck, Potter? Is that it?"

The temperature in the room dropped to frosty limits and magic cackled in the air around Harry. His whole body tensed like a Lion ready to feast on its prey at Ron's last statement. Ron seemed to understand he made a mistake when Harry turned around. The Boy-Who-Lived's eyes were glowing green as he glared at Ron.

It seemed that Harry didn't even move before Ron felt the blow to his jaw and an enraged Harry Potter was towering over him. "Don't you ever say anything like that again!"

Ron Weasley's temper went into overdrive and he sprung off the ground, responding with his own attack, hitting Harry in the eye, which was the commencement of the fight. Both of the boys traded blows, yelling oaths and trying to beat each other silly.

Harry couldn't believe that Ron had said something so vile about Hermione, he wanted to beat some sense into him, until a thought crossed his mind. He was fighting with Ron, his former best friend. Ron would never say anything like that. Yes, he liked to talk about the Beauxbatons girls and how pretty they were, how he wanted to get a date with them, but never something _that_ nasty.

"What the fuck are we doing?!" Harry asked, which caused his magic to push Ron off him, sending the redhead across the room. Ron landed flat on his back, the breath getting knocked from his lungs and delaying him getting up.

Both young wizards just sat in silence, the adrenaline slowly leaving them and the pain from the blows they inflicted finally hitting them. Harry reached up his hand to under his eye where swelling at started and winced at how tender it felt. When he lived at the Dursleys', he was used to rough treatment, but they never outright hit him. He could also feel a bruise forming on his jaw as he moved it around. His body had taken some blows judging from the soreness in his ribs.

He glanced up to see Ron sitting against Dean's bed, holding his stomach where Harry had gotten some hits in. He was also bleeding from his nose and lip, something that pleased Harry as he gave as good as he got. All that was heard in the room was their heavy breathing as they simmered down.

"Not her, Ron." Harry said, his voice rough. "You can say anything you want about me, do not have a go at Hermione. She's done nothing wrong-"

A trail of fresh blood fell from Ron's lip and he angrily wiped it away, "Oh, she's done _something_."

"_Wha_t, Ron?" Harry asked exasperated. "_What _has she ever done to you, Ron? What terrible crime has she committed against _you_?"

"She replaced me! Suddenly you're hanging out with her, you're best friends, turning your back on your own House. What happened? Where did my best mate go?"

"No," Harry frowned, shaking his head in confusion. "No, she didn't. You abandoned me before I even spoke to Hermione this year. You cut the ties, Ron, and you know it. This isn't even about that." Ron physically deflated at this, "Where did _my _best mate go? When did you get so nasty? What happened?"

"You! You happened! You always get everything!" Ron exploded as he counted off on his fingers, "The fame, the girls, the recognition, all the money you could ever want. Why? Why you? Why is it always you? No one ever pays attention to me aside from being Harry bloody Potter's sidekick."

Harry just blinked at his former friend's outburst, finally getting a clear picture of who he actually was. Ron's usual and inane reaction was to lash out and get angry, his mother's temper shining through, and he truly doesn't process the words in his brain before they leave his mouth. He never gave any thought about his actions before he did them.

Things started making sense to Harry, the rhyme and reason to Ron and his actions and his words. He was the youngest male in a family of successful brothers. Two former Head Boys, a former Quidditch captain, and popular master prankers. He felt like he needed to do great things to get some recognition in his house. He saw the success of his brothers and sometimes expected it to just happen to him, he never processed he might have to put in actual hard work thanks to the coddling of his mother.

"Why do I have all of that, Ron?" Harry asked calmly, not giving Ron time to answer. He knew he didn't know the answer anyway. "The _fame_? You mean being the 'Boy-Who-_Lived_'? _Lived _as in my parents were killed."

Ron was silent as he watched Harry, the anger coiled in his body starting to unravel as Harry's words got through his thick skull.

"The _girls_?" Harry grimaced, before a picture of his girlfriend's face flashed through his mind and the grimace was replaced by a small smile reserved for only her. "Hermione is the one girl in this bloody school who doesn't care about all of that. She likes me for _me_, as just _Harry_. She's done nothing to you yet you insult her. If you had just taken the time to get to know her, you would see how great of a person she is."

Ron's head dropped, the telltale signs of shame starting to show, but Harry wasn't finished. This was a long time coming and Ron needed to hear all of this.

"The money? Oh the money that I never even knew I _had _until I was eleven when I found out that I'm a wizard. That's my family's money, the family I never had the chance to meet because of the psychopath who wants to kill me. I would trade it all away for my parents to be alive. I don't always get everything. Do you know how much I envy you, Ron? Do you?"

"Envy_ me_?" Ron asked, bewildered. What did he have that Harry didn't?

Harry nodded, "Yes. You have a family, parents, brothers, a sister, love. Put yourself in my shoes, Ron. Use your brain and think before you speak. You really hurt Hermione when you accused her of brewing potions to keep my interest. Like I said, I can deal with people talking about me, I don't care. But not her. Never her."

Ron stood in silence for a couple of minutes, contemplating what he just said. He then thought back to all the times he spent at the Burrow with his family."I never thought of it like that. I never even...I'm sorry, Harry. You were my best mate and I just...I was jealous and I..." Ron was struggling with his first genuine apology, but Harry appreciated the sentiment.

"I forgive you, Ron, but I'll never forget how you hurt, not only me, but Hermione."

"I'll...I'll apologize to her," Ron said quickly, but with a determination in his voice that shocked Harry. Ron then flushed red and he winced. "Bloody hell, I was so mean to her. Not even just this year..._bloody hell_..."

"Yeah, you were," Harry said, an underlying of steel in his words.

"I'm sorry. I...I can see how important she is to you," Ron said, before a small smile crossed his face as he looked at Harry. "Did you ask her out, yet?"

"Yesterday she agreed to be my girlfriend," Harry replied, a smile curving at his own lips at the statement.

"Congratulations, mate." Ron said, but the word didn't sound right as he said it. He had a slight pained expression on his face, "Things...they'll never go back to how they were...will they?"

Harry was faced with a small revelation because the answer was, "No. They can't, Ron."

Ron nodded before falling into a pregnant silence fille the room. "Can I ask why? I-I think I know, but I want to hear it...I need to hear it."

"I think we've become too different. I think things were said and done that can't be ignored." Harry said, admitting the reasons out loud was cathartic and a weight lifted from his shoulders. "Maybe one day we could go back to being friends, but it'll never be the same."

Ron nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face, impressing Harry. Ron then did something that Harry would always look back on as a beginning sign of Ron Weasley growing up and mentally maturing. He stood up and walked over to Harry, who stood up just in case Ron decided to pull something.

He didn't. He just stuck out his hand.

Harry was surprised, but shook it, a small smile on his lips that Ron mirrored, though he looked more than a bit uncomfortable. The handshake a symbol of acquaintance, of forgiveness, of moving on. Taking a page from his girlfriend's father, he'd forgive Ron, but never forget what he did.

Ron was Harry's first friend, and he'd be forever grateful to him. Harry had some hard life lessons to learn this year: you cannot forgive those who aren't remorseful, hate is baggage, bullying someone can have terrible consequences on your conscience, and sometimes people drift apart from each other.

There were going to be people coming in and out of life, if you were fortunate enough, they'd stick, but sometimes you had to let them go.

"What happened in here?" both turned to see Dean and Seamus standing in the doorway of their dorm, looking at the two roughed up boys shaking hands.

"Just some stuff..." Ron shrugged, before changing the subject. "Seamus, did you see the new Quidditch Illustrated?"

Harry and Ron walked their separate ways, Ron going with his new friends and Harry finishing unpacking his things. He wondered what Hermione's reaction to his wounds would be in the morning.

**-oOo-**

"What happened? Are you okay? Does it hurt? _Who_ hurt you?" she immediately fired off questions, the last one held a chill in Hermione's voice that both startled and touched Harry. The implication she would hurt whoever hurt him to protect him really warmed his heart. He had never really had anyone looking out for him before growing up, so all these people willing to protect him was incredible.

He saw in the mirror that his eye was bruised and still slightly swollen, his cheek was cut, and he was a little sore in his ribs, but it was nothing that he didn't get in a Quidditch match before.

"I'm okay," he said, gently grabbing the hands that had traced over the cut on his cheek and the bruise on his eye, and kissed the back of them. "It was just a misunderstanding that's been settled. I'm fine. Honest." he added at her skeptical look. She then smiled at him and leaned up, brushing her lips against the bruises and the cut.

She laughed when he looked at her in shock. She figured that Sirius had never kissed his boo-boos before and had no idea about his aunt and uncle he used to live with, because he never talked about them. "My parents always did that when I had a 'boo-boo' to make it feel better. Do they feel better?"

"They feel great, but I think I might have cut my lips too," Harry joked. To add some dramatics, he playfully pouted, getting the wonderful reward of a musical laugh followed by a kiss.

Hermione took his hand and leading him towards the Great Hall. "Have you given any thought to the egg?"

"Not really. I know we have to figure it out, but at least we have some time since the task is next month." Harry said and Hermione smiled at the use of 'we'. They were back in their bubble formed back in Kent as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw table, filling their plates with food.

"Mind if I sit here?" Harry and Hermione looked up to see Neville Longbottom standing there looking slightly unsure.

"Sure, Nev," Harry said, the Gryffindor smiling and taking a seat across from them. There were a couple of odd looks from the Ravenclaws at the two Lions sitting in the Eagle's nest. The three just ignored them, something Hermione had gotten very good at over her years of ridicule.

"Congratulations," he suddenly said, smiling at the newly minted couple, who both grinned.

"Thanks, Nev," Harry said, slipping an arm around Hermione.

"Nice to see you again, Hermione."

"You too, Neville. How's Trevor?"

He laughed, remembering the bossy girl who helped him scourge the train for his lost toad. "He's back at my home since he never liked to stick with me. He likes hopping around the gardens anyway."

"Hi, Neville," a silky voice said and Harry and Hermione turned to see Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin's ice princess, standing there.

"Daphne! Hi," Neville said, his face starting to flush but he was smiling at the Slytherin, which confused Harry. He had no idea that they knew each other.

"Harry, Hermione, you know Daphne, right?"

"Granger. You're in my arithmancy class."

"Yes," Hermione said, her guard up which was a natural reaction to a Slytherin.

"I was wondering if I could compare my notes to yours?" Daphne asked in a very un-Slytherin like tone, shocking Hermione.

Daphne Greengrass was anything but stupid so she understood Granger's guard being up around her, especially with all the stuff her House put the muggleborn witch through her years at Hogwarts.

Hermione saw Neville nodding at her out of the corner of her eye. "Er...sure, I guess. Why don't you sit?"

"Thank you," Daphne said, before taking a seat next to Neville, taking her arithmancy notes out of her bag and showing them to Hermione. The two girls fell into an easy discussion on the class and Neville noticed Harry eyeing the Slytherin, flicking his gaze to her every couple of minutes.

He also noticed that wasn't how guys would usually watch Daphne though, their eyes full of lust and want. No, it was more along the lines of making sure she wasn't pulling a trick on Hermione. Neville saw the look in his eye that promised retribution if she did. One thing was for sure, he did not want to be the one who hurt Hermione Granger.

**-oOo-**

Harry was walking to Charms class with Hermione, chatting pleasantly. They were about to turn down the hallway leading toward Flitwick's, when their way was blocked.

"Potter," to their surprise, Cedric Diggory standing there looking slightly uncomfortable. "Can I talk to you?"

Harry shared a glance with Hermione, who just shrugged in response to his unspoken question. "Anything you have to say can be said in front of Hermione," Harry said and Hermione's smile promised a very warm kiss later on.

Cedric looked back and forth between the muggleborn witch and the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. "Er...well, okay. Listen, I'm sorry for not believing you about not entering the tournament. I just want to repay the same tip you gave me," Cedric started, peaking Harry's attention. "Take a bath with the egg. Prefects bathroom, the password is pinefresh."

Harry frowned in confusion and saw that it was mirrored on Hermione's face. "Uh...er...okay. Thanks, Cedric."

"You're welcome, Harry." he said with a smile, before walking around the duo and continuing on his way.

"That was odd," Hermione commented, Harry nodding his agreement. "Well, I suppose you don't exactly have to go to the Prefects bathroom, the Room of Requirement will provide us with what we need..."

She then thought about seeing Harry in a swimsuit and gulped, though a small smile pulled at her lips. She reckoned it would be quite a nice sight.

**-oOo****-**

Harry stepped out of the changing room the RoR provided, feeling a little shy that Hermione was going to see him with just a pair of swim trunks on.

He knew that he was shorter than most boys and even some of the girls in the school thanks to growing up in the broom cuppoard at the Dursleys'. In turn, he was scrawnier and didn't have much of a body, though he supposed that the past year had helped him gain some muscles from flying around the Potter's home. His size was one of the reasons he was such a good seeker.

The Room of Requirement had provided Harry with a pool sized bath and a changing room, along with towels. Hermione was sitting by the pool with some parchment, quills, and books. She glanced up when she heard Harry walk out and her jaw dropped, her face flushing. He wasn't bulky by any means, he was lean and Hermione felt her mouth go dry. _'He's so handsome,'_ she thought.

Harry's shyness disappeared and he grinned at her response, but was in no way, shape, or form going to tease her. He walked over to her and grabbed the egg, before walking into the lukewarm water. He took a deep breath and ducked underwater, opening the egg. Instead of the ear shattering screaming, there was a soft melodious song.

_"Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_we cannot sing above the ground._

_And while you're searching, ponder this:_

_we've taken what you'll sorely miss._

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_and recover what we took._

_But past the hour's, the prospects black,_

_too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

Harry poked his head up out of the water, taking deep breaths and quickly copy down what the song said. Hermione took the parchment and he got out of the pool, wrapping a towel around his waist and drying himself with another.

Hermione's brain was processing things faster than Harry could comprehend as he took a seat next to her. "Where our voices sound, cannot sing above the ground...the water, obviously and I assume the Lake...there's a variety of creatures that live there...merpeople, grindylows, the Squid..." she was muttering, writing things down on a piece of parchment.

Harry noticed that a book suddenly appeared next to them, courtesy of the Room of Requirement.

"_Creatures of the Black Lake by James Gillard_," Harry read the cover, "Brilliant."

"'What you'll sorely miss'. What do you think they'll take?"

Harry frowned, "I don't know...my invisibility cloak and my photo album are irreplaceable. Would they take them?"

She gave him a dry expression. "This from the same people who put _students _up against a _dragon_," she said, Harry letting out a disgruntled noise as he dried himself off. "An hour to look or else the item is gone. You need to be able to breathe underwater for an hour."

"Great," Harry muttered, not exactly looking forward to the second task. Would they really take his invisibility cloak? It was his most prized possession, a connection to his father.

"If you're going into the Black Lake, then I know what we need to work on. Well, two things."

"What?"

"The bubble-head charm and silent casting."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Can _you _do silent casting?"

As an answer, Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at the desk which levitated off the ground before she guided it back down. "I can cast all of the first year charms silently along with most of the second and third year charms, to an extent."

"Bloody hell," he said, staring at the desk she had just levitated. "My girlfriend is incredible. I'm one lucky guy."

"Harry," she blushed, which only darkened when he picked her up, swinging her around. They both laughed joyfully, before they realized that Harry was still shirtless and wet, and that the front of Hermione's shirt was now wet where it had touched Harry's bare chest. He put her down and saw that her school blouse was sticking to her chest, showing off a bit more of what he saw on NYE in that dress.

"Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry," Harry said, averting his gaze as Hermione's light pink bra is visible through the shirt along with her breasts reacting to the water.

To his horror, his body started reacted to his girlfriend's beautiful body and closed his eyes, focusing on a naked Filch, a naked Snape, a naked Dumbledore. Anything to stem the blood flowing toward a certain part of his anatomy.

"It's quite alright, Harry," she said with a dark blush on her cheeks, casting the drying charm on herself. She saw his eyes closed with a grimace on his face and her heart dropped into her stomach. _'Am I really that repulsive looking?' _she thought.

"Did I really look that bad?" Hermione asked sadly, Harry looking up at her in shock.

"_Bad? _No, farthest thing from, Hermione."

She was pleased but also puzzled with his answer, "Then, why did you look disgusted?"

"Because...b-because...because I was disgusted with _myself_..." he admitted, averting his gaze once more. His brain kept replaying the image of her and he knew that later on he would have to _relieve _his situation.

"Disgusted with yourself?" Hermione asked, completely bewildered.

Harry understood that Hermione still had some insecurities that wouldn't leave overnight. "Does the phrase 'pitching a tent' mean anything to you?" Harry asked, a blush staining his cheeks. _'Great, I've probably scared her off with my perving,' _Harry thought, berating himself for being such a pig in front of her. She was a lady and he should treat her like one, not having these urges to ravish her.

Hermione thought that it sounded familiar, before her eyes widened in realization. She then blushed, but the girly part of her was very pleased and happy that she could cause such a reaction out of him. She stepped forward and firmly pressed her lips to his, letting instinct take over.

Harry was shocked, but didn't let that hinder him as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss with fervency. Hermione opened her mouth and Harry responded in kind, before he felt her tongue brush against his and groaned. It was their first 'snog' and it was quite perfect.

When air became a necessity, they both slowed down before pulling back to rest their foreheads against each other. "That did absolutely _nothing_ to help my problem, but it was amazing nonetheless." Harry grinned, a little impishly.

Hermione reached up to cup his cheek. "Harry, don't ever be disgusted with yourself. I never even thought I could invoke such a reaction from a boy. A handsome one at that," she admitted with a blush, Harry leaning forward to kiss her.

"Have you seen yourself, Hermione?" he asked when he pulled back. "Don't you know how beautiful you are?"

"I do when I'm with you," Hermione breathed out with a sweet smile, brushing the wet hair away from Harry's forehead. "You make me believe it."

Harry just smiled and kissed her once more.

* * *

**A/N: Hormones suck! Also, that fluff in the end almost gave me a cavity. I'd schedule a visit to the dentist after reading this. **

**This chapter battled me, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. So, looks like Ronnikins is starting to grow up. I went through something like this with one of my former best friends. We were as close as sisters but had a huge falling out - that fortunately did not result in a fist fight - and realized that things would never be the same as they were. Very sad, but also true.**

**Someone asked what is my opinion on Ginny and it is much like Ron, I don't like her character. Right now, Harry's not going to hang the life debt above her head out of respect for Arthur, Fred, and George and because he's not cruel. He also understands that she is a thirteen year old girl. Girls in their early teens, like I once was, are over-dramatic, emotional, immature, jealous, and sometimes obsessive fangirls (Beliebers, anyone?) Ginny's still technically a child and she has some growing to do.**

**Next: Valentine's day, the second task, and Harry opens up about his early life.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Last chapter was fluffy because there's some action and angst in this chapter. You may start seeing signs of Harry being a very powerful wizard, because I believe he is, but please don't think I'm turning him into 'fanon super powered godly Harry' because nothing makes me grimace more than Harry being godly powerful, unless he worked hard for the power. Does it annoy anyone else when Harry is suddenly smarter than Hermione and godly powerful? Unless her worked hard for it.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

"Whoever controls the media, controls the mind." - Jim Morrison

**Chapter 9**

Barty Crouch Jr. was not having a very good month. He walked down the hallway, clacking along with his walking stick, muttering curses in his mind out of frustration. He knew that he had enough anger in him to cast the Killing Curse and it was all because of two people - Dumbledore and Potter.

Ever since the old man had taken some affirmative action in the school he had to remain inconspicuous, in the shadows, not even getting close to Potter. One wrong move, a slight legillimency attack by the old man and he could expose the Dark Lord's plan. He would rather cut off his own hand than betray his Lord.

Potter was becoming smarter, all thanks to that mudblood girlfriend of his. His grades were high, he was actually thinking with his head, his eye even spotted some Occlumency books in his bag. He was also taking affirmitave action and he needed to do something. The boy needed to be weak and pliable.

Not that he doubted his Lord's abilities, not at all.

Maybe he could just kill the Granger girl, that would probably send the boy into a depression. Subtle legillmency probes during DADA classes showed that the girl was constantly in his thoughts, mostly they centered around the tournament and her.

The mudblood was surprisingly the best in their year, probably the smartest witch in the school, well ahead of many pureblood witches and wizards. She was keeping him grounded but also motivated as she made him study hard. His marks in their DADA class had reached the highest in their year.

The legillemency attacks were getting harder and harder with the shields he was building, he didn't want to alert him to his presence in his mind and had to be delicate with his touch, something Barty was not exactly familiar with. He usually blasted in with a full on attack but at the beginning of the year, he had to go back to Severus to help him with delicate probes.

Barty liked to believe that he was Slytherin personified - cunning, ambitious, and most of all, ruthless. He would do his Lord's bidding without a second thought and he was honored that the Dark Lord trusted him with this task. He'd kill his own father - something he was already planning - if it would please Lord Voldemort.

However, things were becoming complicated as Harry Potter was becoming, in simple words, was a powerful wizard. He suspected that if he continued on the path he was on, he would be a worthy opponent of the Dark Lord.

Something needed to be done to weaken Potter's will.

He stalked into the DADA office and locked the door with the most powerful charms he knew. It wouldn't do for someone to walk in on him as he felt the polyjuice wearing off. His face twisted into a grimace as he was reverted to his orignal form. The Death Eater couldn't wait until June, his blood felt like it was roaring in his veins with excitement. Then Britain would be molded into what it always should have been - pure.

He walked over to the trunk where he was keeping the real Moody, who was currently passed out at the bottom. He gave him sustenance, not able to afford him dying until the return. A quick cutting and levitation charm and Barty had hair for his polyjuice potion that Severus had delivered to him earlier.

He closed and locked the trunk once more and walked over to the desk, leaning back and closing his eyes. Something needed to be done to Potter and he snapped his eyes open as an idea came to him. The second task was approaching soon, it was quite obvious who Potter would 'sorely miss' would be.

Maybe if a tragic accident were to happen, a miscalculation of sorts, Potter would break and the Dark Lord would be most pleased.

A feral grin spread across Barty's face.

**-oOo-**

Draco Malfoy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, scrubbing the pimples on his forehead raw, though deep down he knew it was futile.

He had been hexed so badly before, even Potters boil hex was cleared up by Pomfrey in less than a day. Anything the mediwitch did, the pimples still wouldn't come off. It was also charmed so that when he looked in the mirror, he saw that the word was written the right way. The mudblood was quite vindictive with her hex, making sure he could see the word.

Coward.

Though taken by a mudblood, seemed to be tormenting Draco. He liked to think that he was many things, but not a coward. A coward was lower than a mudblood in his eyes, something he never wanted to be. He wanted to be cunning and sly, he wanted to be like his father. His hero.

He had taken pleasure in tormenting Granger throughout the years, watching her eyes fill with tears as he and Pansy made fun of her. He never expected her to retaliate against him, but she did. He pushed her to the limit and embarrassed him, practically in front of the whole school.

He didn't even leave the dorm, having his godfather write him a note to get out of classes, except for his mandatory detentions cleaning with Filch.

Granger had shown him to be weak, to be _beatable_. Of course, he knew that she was beating him grade wise, but she had nothing on him in practicality. Or so he thought. As bitter as it tasted, and though he thought that Granger was still a know-it-all mudblood, his reluctant respect for her had risen a bit.

He growled and walked back over to his bed, pulling the curtains closed tight. He hated all the stares he received, the laughter behind hands, the gawking, the sniggering. It was incredibly irritating, but he didn't have revenge on his mind.

Oh, there was no way he'd be apologizing to her, but he would steer clear of her and Potter. He wouldn't make the same mistake.

Draco Malfoy was many things, but stupid he was not.

**-oOo-**

February was dawning and that meant that the second task was nearing, but Harry was focused on something a little more daunting - Valentine's Day.

In Valentine's past, he had received many of those singing cupids along with cards and candy in the past and he never really paid them any attention. This year he was quite excited seeing as how he had a beautiful girlfriend, but he also had a dilemma - what to get her as a gift.

Thankfully, Daphne, knowing how the female mind works suggested they should have a private "romantic" dinner. She was a Godsend since he and Neville were coming up with a big fat nothing and she decided to take pity on their ignorant male minds.

Harry had already planned on getting Hermione another charm for her bracelet, and thankfully Amber was a big help again. But, he was both excited and nervous to give her the specific charm, hoping that she liked it. Another good thing was that Daphne said she would.

"So, are you getting Daphne anything for Valentine's Day?" Harry asked Neville as they walked through Hogsmeade. The girls had split up to go shopping and would meet them at the Three Broomsticks for lunch later; he and the shy Gryffindor were just wandering about the different stores.

Neville and Daphne had gotten closer in the last month during their tutoring sessions. Daphne's grades in Herbology were rising along with her interest in Neville Longbottom. He was becoming progressively more confident each day around her and no longer blushed and rarely stammered.

However, that didn't stop him from blushing as he answered Harry, "Hermione said she'd help me charm roses for Daphne and the chocolate is for her. It's her favorite."

Harry grinned at his friend - his best mate - and clapped him on the shoulder. "All right, Nev. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. I really like her, but...I don't think I'm ready for a relationship yet, but soon..." Neville smiled before the closest thing to a smirk appeared on his face. "I think it's obvious that you and Hermione are doing great."

"I think that might be an understatement," Harry said with a wide smile.

**-oOo-**

Hermione and Daphne were walking out of Willa's Witches Wear where Hermione bought a dress for Valentine's upon Daphne's urging and her help. Hermione actually had some fun shopping with a girlfriend, she had only really went clothes shopping with her mum.

Hermione realized that she had been a little pious when she had judged the Slytherin before getting to know her. She had grouped her into the Pureblood princess clique consisting of Parkinson and Bulstrode. Daphne, while very girly, was able to hold an intelligent conversation.

Through their talking, Hermione had discovered that Daphne alienated herself from the pureblood elite classmates because she didn't agree with their bigotry against muggleborns and half-bloods. She and her little sister, Astoria, were friendless, but the girl in green felt better when Hermione offered her own friendship as a relatively friendless girl herself.

Daphne had also categorized Hermione wrong, she thought that she was just an uppity muggleborn, which was because the only time she really talked was during class when she answered every question correctly. She was also a _tiny bit _jealous that the muggleborn witch could grasp things so easily when it took her some time to.

Hermione Granger was a genuinely nice girl, and Daphne could have kicked herself for not getting to know her sooner.

"He's going to die when he sees you in that dress," Daphne commented as they walked over to the jewelry store Dia Menty's.

"You really think so?" Hermione asked, a bit unsure. It was beautiful, but something she never would have bought for herself before now. Daphne was very persuasive though and she had to admit, she thought she looked quite nice in it.

"Oh, I _know_ so. The dress is the perfect color and style, trust me," Daphne said as they walked in the little jewelry shop. "So, what are you going to get him?"

"I'd like to find that out as well. I'm not exactly experienced in this."

"Neither am I. I'm glad Neville is quite easy, though," she said, indicating the box of Bertie Bott's beans, Neville's favorite.

"Hi, can I help you?" both girls turned to the voice to see an auburn haired witch standing there.

"Yes, I'm looking for something for my boyfriend," Hermione told her. She figured she was going maybe a little overboard with the jewelry aspect of the gift, but she had all of that money from the Skeeter incident that she could afford to do this. Besides, she wanted to make this Valentine's Day special for Harry. "But, I have no idea what to get."

She smiled warmly at Hermione, "It's why I'm here. I'm Amber. Did you have anything in mind?" Amber then caught sight of the bracelet on Hermione's wrist and gasped. "Oh! You're Hermione, Harry's girlfriend!"

Both girls looked shocked at the sudden outburst and that Amber knew her and Harry, before Amber then blushed. "Oh bloody hell," she muttered, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, but I just recognized the bracelet because I helped him with it."

Hermione smiled and offered her hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger," she then saw the bracelet on Amber's wrist that matched hers and her smile widened. "I see where he got the inspiration from."

"Like I told Harry, my husband gave me this our fifth year when we started dating. I actually just received a new one for Christmas," she said pointing to the small baby's rattle on the bracelet. "Just found out that we're expecting."

"That's so sweet," Daphne said, the Ice Princess melting for a second, causing Hermione to smile. "Sorry, I'm Daphne."

Amber said, leading the girls over to the men's section of jewelry. "So, what we're you thinking for Harry?"

"What do you think I should get him?" Hermione asked Daphne, who thought for a minute.

"Well, that watch he always wears is terribly old an looks like it's about to fall off at any minute. Maybe a new one?"

Amber walked over to a drawer and tapped her wand against it. It opened up and expanded, displaying a number of nice looking watches. Hermione sighed, _'this is going to be harder than I thought,'_ she thought as she looked at all the different styles.

**-oOo-**

An hour later, Hermione and Daphne walked out of the jewelry store. Hermione's her change purse considerably lighter and a large smile on her face, _'So worth it,'_ she thought as she put the gift box in her bottomless bag. She went with simplicity since she knew Harry wouldn't want anything to garish and flashy, she also went with practicality. He played Quidditch, so he would want something resistant, but she wanted it to look nice.

"I talked to my parents and apparently my dad is taking my mum to their house in the Cayman's for a long weekend. It's also their anniversary," Daphne told Hermione when they broached the subject about what their parents were doing for Valentine's Day. Her dad usually just took her mum out to a fancy restaurant and bought her a piece of jewelry.

"They weren't arranged?" Hermione asked. She had figured that all purebloods had arranged their marriages still. It was common knowledge that Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were betrothed. It seemed so impersonal. Hermione wanted to fall in love, to get married because she loved her significant other, not because of some business contract involving money. It left a foul taste in her mouth and she felt oddly better that her first girl-friend's parents weren't like that.

"Nope. They met after they had graduated. My dad went to Hogwarts and my mum went to Beauxbatons. My dad was a professional Quidditch player for a couple of years and my mum was starting her Healer training when he was sent to the hospital she was working at for a broken arm. He always says that he fell in love with her at first sight and she says the same thing."

"That's really sweet," Hermione smiled.**  
**

"It is. I want to have a love with someone like my parents have."

"Daphne, how do you know when you're in love?" Hermione suddenly asked, catching the blonde off guard for a second.

"Why do you want to know?" Daphne asked, before pulling the muggleborn to a stop, a smile curving her lips. "Oh, Merlin. Hermione, are you _in love _Harry?"

Hermione blushed redder than a tomato. "I think...that I'm steadily falling in love with him, but...I don't want to be wrong."

"Well, my mum said that she always got this warm feeling whenever my dad was around. She felt safe and protected, but was willing to do whatever necessary to take care of him and protect him. She said that he centered around her thoughts and that...it couldn't really be defined in words, but you would just have that feeling of _knowing_."

"I think it might be too soon to tell him, but..."

Daphne smiled as Hermione continued on.

"I feel whole. I feel like there was some missing piece of me for all these years that I didn't notice, but as soon as Harry and I started spending time together...I'm stronger than I was. He doesn't care about me being 'know-it-all,' or that I limp when I walk, or my general 'geekiness'. He makes me feel beautiful..."

"Hermione, just say it."

"I'm in love with Harry Potter."

There it was. Out loud, what had been building steadily since that day in November when Hermione offered Harry her help. It was quick, she knew that it was, but she was sure. She wasn't sure she had enough courage in her to tell him just yet. She didn't want to be an obligation to him if he didn't say it, so she wanted to wait until the timing was right.

Saying it out loud, admitting it to Daphne was like a seal being pressed on it. She had that feeling of 'knowing'. They made it each other better. From him, she built confidence to stand up to Malfoy. From her, he took his studies more seriously unlocking his potential to be a great wizard.

Daphne gave a low excited squeal and pulled Hermione in for a hug.

"Well, what about you and Neville?" Hermione asked, changing the subject. She was truly curious and happy for the both of them. They deserved each other; like Harry and Hermione, they took things from each other. Daphne was confident, Neville was shy. Hermione could see Neville coming out of his shell, she also saw Neville warming Daphne up.

Sometimes Daphne maintained the Ice Princess facade until she realized that Neville, Hermione, and Harry were truly her friends.

The girls walked into The Three Broomsticks and Daphne just smiled at Hermione. "I like him. I guess it's a crush, but we both like where we're at right now, becoming better friends. He's such a good guy and I think he's rather handsome."

"I'm happy for you, Daphne."

Daphne smiled as they. "You know, I've never had 'girl talk' before - well, except with Astoria, but she's younger so it's not the same."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by an unwelcome voice. "Granger?"

Hermione and Daphne stopped, turning around to see an uncomfortable Ron Weasley standing there. Daphne stiffened up, her hand discreetly sliding into her bag where her wand resided. She had known that the ginger prat liked to use Hermione as a verbal chew toy and was willing to back up her first friend.

"Weasley," Hermione said, her tone neutral. She didn't trust the red-headed food receptacle farther than she could throw him.

Ron was going to apologize to Hermione, but the Snake wouldn't get the hint to leave. "Can I talk to you?"

Daphne just raised her manicured eyebrow at the boy. She knew he was rather biased against the Slytherins, so she shouldn't exactly take it personally, but she wasn't going to stand for it. She rolled her eyes, before turning to Hermione. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"I'll just go wait for the boys," Daphne shot Ron a cold warning look that made him flinch. She smirked and watched as Hermione followed him to a quiet corner to talk. She would be keeping an eye on them just in case the ginger prat decided to pull something.

They stood in awkward silence and Hermione was starting to wonder if Weasley was pulling a prank on her. Right when she was about to walk away, he opened his mouth. "I reckon that I've been a right prat to you all these years," Ron started, his gaze on the floor.

_'Really?' _she thought, wondering where this was leading. She wasn't giving him an inch and crossed her arms over her chest. "You 'reckon' correctly. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I...I wanted to apologize to you..." Hermione didn't say anything and kept her eyes on him. The only sign she heard him was the brow arching. Ron looked more than a bit uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his place. She wondered if he had ever apologized for his actions before now, "Yeah, so..."

Again, she just stood and waited for the point to arise.

"I'm sorry. I was really mean and stupid and I regret every thing I've said about you. It'll never happen again."

It was generic and insincere, Hermione doubted he meant a word of it, except for it never happening again.

She smiled when she felt an arm go around her waist and a familiar pair of lips kissing her cheek. She turned to see her boyfriend smiling at her, though the nice look melted off when he turned to the even more uncomfortable youngest Weasley male.

"Ron," he said coldly, Hermione almost shivered at his tone. She knew that it was Ron who Harry had gotten into that fight with, due to the bruising on his face the day after. She practically forced the words that Ron had said out of Harry.

Admittedly, it had hurt that Ron said those nasty things, but she took comfort in the fact that her boyfriend had defended her so vehemently. Growing up, it was always Hermione versus the bullies, she never had anybody in her corner. Now she had three people and one willing to fight a former best mate over some bad words.

"Harry."

"What's going on?" Harry asked, his hardened gaze on Ron while his grip around her waist became tighter. She also liked that he wasn't trying to push her behind him, he was next to her. Equals, something she had admired about her parents relationship - the equal partnership aspect.

"Nothing, just...apologizing..." Ron muttered, staring at the floor and shifting from foot to foot.

"Well, I accept your apology, just don't ever talk to me again." Hermione said bluntly, channeling confidence from Harry. With him by her side, she could take on the world it seemed. A little jealous git such as Ron Weasley was a minor irritation. A gnat to swat away.

Ron nodded before briskly walking away from the couple and Harry's cold glare.

"Hey you," Harry said with a smile, Hermione smiling in return and pecking his lips. "Are you okay?"

She smiled. "I'm great. How was shopping with Neville?"

"It was okay. I got what I needed. What about you with Daphne?"

"I got what I needed," she echoed, shrugging. She had bought him some of his favorite candies from Honeydukes along with the watch from Dia Menty's. They walked back over to the table where Neville and Daphne were chatting.

They sat down and ordered, eating, talking, and laughing. All four of them were alienated somehow, someway in life. All four of them found a kindred spirit in each other which helped forge a quick friendship.

"Well, hello kids," they turned to the voice and saw Sirius Black strutting over to them.

"Sirius! What are you doing here?" Harry asked, surprised.

"I have something I'd like to discuss with you and I need your help," Sirius said before turning with a mischievous grin towards the ladies. "Miss Granger, so lovely to see you again. Pardon my french, but I'm glad that my godson finally found his bollocks and asked you to be his girlfriend."

Harry and Hermione both blushed while the former glared at his dogfather. "Padfoot, how would you like a trip to pound?" he asked through gritted teeth, but the Marauder just ignored him and turned to the stunning blonde who was smirking at the two lovebirds.

"I don't believe I've ever met you before."

"Daphne Greengrass," she offered a dainty hand, Sirius greeting in typical pureblood fashion, a kiss to the back of it.

"Lovely to meet you, Miss Greengrass. I'm Sirius Black. Yes, _THE_ Sirius Black. My reputation precedes me, I know."

"You said you had something to discuss with us?" Harry asked through gritted teeth, glaring at his godfather.

"Ah! Yes," he said, taking the seat between Harry and Neville. "So...how would you like to get rid of a certain greasy bat?"

The teens shared surprised and intrigued looks before looking back toward Sirius. "Explain," they stated in unison, Sirius' cheshire like grin only widening.

"So, what do you think?" he asked after his explanation.

There was no hesitation. "Operation expurgate the greasy git is a go," Harry said, smirking at both Sirius and Neville, all three were practically bouncing in their seats in excitement.

Daphne and Hermione rolled their eyes in unison, "Boys."

**-oOo-**

February 14th rolled around quickly and Harry fidgeted from foot to foot outside the Ravenclaw tower. He fingered the small box in his pocket which held the charm to add to her bracelet. Everything was all set for their dinner. Dobby was bringing them food from the kitchens at the spot where Harry had already set everything up.

He glanced to his attire, his favorite dress shirt in emerald, black slacks and black shoes. His hair was hopeless and Hermione had once said she liked how messy it was. Anything she liked, he would do. If she wanted him to shave his head, his hair would be gone. If she wanted him to grow it out to the middle of his back, he would embrace long hair.

Those thoughts were confusing to Harry.

Of course he always had her on his mind somehow, but he was sometimes truly surprised by what he would do for her. He wanted her to be happy, that was priority number one, and he realized he would do _anything _to make her happy. He also wanted her safe, which was the reason he had the extra charms applied to her bracelet.

He knew she could take care of herself, she had displayed that with Malfoy - the thought of the blond poncy git hiding in the dungeons because of his perfect face being marred by the word **COWARD** brought a smile to his face. Hermione wanted an equal, not someone to take all the weight and let her sit back and do nothing. Hell, that wasn't really an option when she was the one teaching him everything.

He had heard a word from his godfather that startled him - love. Was he falling in love with her? Did he even know what love was? He had evaded all of Sirius' questions during their conversation over the mirror, partly out of confusion and ignorance.

He had no idea what love was, Sirius wasn't the most emotional person in the world, covering them up with endless mirth while Remus was withdrawn. All he knew of love was what his parents had. They were both in love with each other, that was sure to anyone who knew them, but how would Harry know that he was in love?

Harry heard a throat clearing behind him and turned around. His mouth went dry as he saw his girlfriend standing there. She was in an emerald-green dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a flowy skirt. The hemline of the dress ended mid-thigh and she also wore a pair of black stockings and black flats. He noticed that the dress was even more snug than the one on New Years and the color looked beautiful on her.

Her hair was tamed into soft curls and her makeup was done lightly, accentuating her beautiful features. She wore the charm bracelet on her wrist along with simple stud diamonds in her ears. Harry was sure he had no concept of basic functions such as talking and breathing for fifteen seconds, before the switch was turned back on in his brain.

"You look beautiful, love," he breathed, the endearment slipping out. He was fearful that maybe it was a little too soon to be using them, but from the way her face brightened up, all worries were washed away.

"Thank you, Harry. You look incredibly dashing," Hermione said, placing her hands on his shoulder and raising up to kiss him. Harry grinned against her supple lips, placing his arms around her waist as she had hers in his messy hair.

"Come on," he whispered, his voice slightly husky. He took her hand and started leading her out of the castle. Other couples had arranged special evenings for their significant others while everyone else had dinner it he Great Hall.

When they walked outside, Hermione tilted her head in question. "Won't we need our cloaks if we're going outside?"

"Nope," Harry grinned, leading her over to 'his spot' by the Lake. It was a spot he always came if he needed some peace and quiet, it was secluded from everyone else.

Hermione gasped as she saw the set-up, "Oh Harry."

Harry and Dobby had placed warming charms all around the area to keep the teens warm during their dinner. There was a plush blanket with cushioning charms for them to sit on, the whole area was surrounded by candles and he had Sirius give him a small wireless radio that was charmed to continually play music for them. Dobby had Hermione's favorite dinner made for them. He wanted it to be perfect for her. She deserved it.

"Moonlight dinner - check. Music - check. Candles - check. My favorite food - check. Who knew you to be such a romantic, Mr. Potter?" she teased, gazing at him with adoring brown eyes.

"I have to admit that I had some help from Sirius, Daphne, and Dobby. I'm clueless at this," he said a little sheepish. She didn't resist kissing his flushed cheek and nuzzling it with her own, something that felt so natural.

"It's perfect. Thank you, love," she whispered, Harry's heart swelling at the endearment and the action. He didn't realize how good it actually felt to be called _that._ If he made her feel half as good as he felt right now, he would be calling her 'love' a thousand times a day.

"No, Hermione. Thank _you_," he said, just as quiet and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Both settled down on the blanket, eating their dinner and cuddling together.

"I trust you, Hermione." Harry suddenly said, looking at their intertwined hands.

Hermione glanced up at him, confused by the sudden admission, but touched as well. She smiled and leaned up, kissing his cheek. "I trust you too, Harry."

"I want to tell you about my childhood," he said, his voice sounding strained. She sat up and turned to face him, seeing how serious and important this was to him. She was surprised when he chuckled, the sound humorless, bitter. "Or lack of, actually."

She didn't say anything, she just reached out and took his hands in hers.

As soon as Harry opened his mouth, it was word vomit all over again. Thankfully, Dobby also managed to put silencing charms around them for total privacy.

He told her about his cupboard he lived in for ten years.

He told her how his aunt and uncle were terrible people who hated him.

He told her about he didn't know his name until he went to school, he thought that his name was either 'boy' or 'freak'.

He told her about Marge's bulldog biting him and how she warned that he had better not of hurt her dog with his filth.

He told her about Dudley and his friends favorite game called 'Harry hunting'.

He even told her about the time he blew up the windows in the house after what he know knew was a bout of accidental magic. He told her how they locked him in the broom cupboard for two days without food or water. He had to piss in the corner of the cupboard because there was no where else to go.

Hermione's heart broke for Harry. Though she was isolated from her peers her entire life, she had her mum and dad. She felt a strong desire to hug them tightly, telling them how much she loved them. Harry truly had no one for ten years of his life, until he came to Hogwarts. He made friends, he found out that he was famous, that he had money.

Then Sirius was proven innocent last year and he escaped that hell on Privet Drive.

Then he started to think that he would finally be able to live relatively normal.

Then everything went to shit earlier in the year.

"...and then a beautiful witch offered her help and changed my life."

Hermione had ended up in Harry's lap sometime through the story of his life. Her cheeks had evidence of tear tracks and she silently thanked Daphne for waterproofing her makeup. She had her head laying on his shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. He was shocked how upset she was, because he didn't want her to be. He just wanted to tell her because he trusted her, he told her his deepest secrets, trusting her to keep them safe. She would, he knew it.

Hermione wanted to tell him that she loved him, but the words caught in her throat. _'Not now,' _she thought, snuggling into his embrace. She felt it bouncing off of each other, the love she was trying to convey to him was reflecting back to her. She needed to cheer him up, so she took the box out of her dress pocket and slipped it in his hand.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Harry." she whispered in his ear. He glanced at the box in confusion and he grinned, "Open it."

"Merlin Hermione," he said, taking the watch out of the box. She smiled at his reaction and gave herself a proverbial pat on the back.

"Do you like it?"

"I...love it," he answered, his green eyes swimming with warmth and adoration for the witch in front of him.

It was a quartz watch with black engraving. She had the same charms that he had placed on her bracelet put on the watch. It gave her peace of mind to know that he was at least safe from small curses. She also had _**HJP **_engraved in it to personalize it for him. She helped him put it on, replacing the one that was falling apart.

She watched with a smile as he admired it before giving her a kiss that curled her toes. He then pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her with a slightly nervous smile. When she opened it, she couldn't hold in the gasp, "Oh Harry..."

"Do _you _like it?"

"It's beautiful," she said, gently running her finger over the stag charm, his patronus. Hermione thought that patronuses were very personal, they were a physical manifestation of joy triggered by a happy memory. It meant a lot for her to have his patronus form on her bracelet. He took the charm and placed it on her bracelet, right next to her otter.

Both sat out by the Lake cuddling together until curfew. Harry had his arms wrapped around Hermione as she leaned back against him.

"How was your Valentine's day, love?" he murmured in her ear.

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

**-oOo-**

After Neville and Daphne finished their main part of the plan of getting rid of Snape, Harry and Hermione walked around the school and collected the signatures they needed. Many were weary that they would somehow get in trouble, until the fourth years assured them that their names wouldn't be published anywhere, it just added power to the statements.

They collected 300 signatures from students in all years. Daphne was able to get some of the more neutral Slytherins such as first years, Blaise Zabini, and Tracey Davis to sign. Just about all of the Gryffindors signed, about 3/4 of the Hufflepuff signed, and half of the Ravenclaws.

They sent the documents off to Sirius with fingers crossed that their plan would work. They were not learning anything in class and he emotional abuse weighed heavy on some students, Neville in particular. He was constantly being sabotaged in class and was sick of it, he wanted Snape gone and he wanted a real teacher to teach them.

He was going to take a stand, not only for him, but for the school. He knew that if they could, his parents would be proud.

**-oOo-**

Sirius Black was born a jokester with a rebellious streak, demonstrated when he didn't conform to the Black pureblood ideology. He loved angering his mother by having posters of beautiful muggle models all over his bedroom walls and playing loud rock music. It all came to a head when he left the home and move in with James. He felt freer than he ever had been living with Charlus and Dorea, his surrogate parents.

When he was finally given a trial and, in turn, custody of his godson, he promised James and Lily that he would protect Harry any way that he could. He would face the Dark Lord himself to protect him, he would die for his godson. He did love him, but he was also afraid.

Afraid that he would leave him like James did. Afraid he would die and then he would be alone again. It might have sounded selfish, but that was a true fear to Sirius. He topped that thought with a tumbler full of firewhiskey before banishing it from his head. No time for dreary thoughts such as that.

As he glanced down at the article that was going to publish the next day, he smiled.

Witches and Wizards were impressionable creatures, easily swayed by the public popular opinion. Only a handful were able to make up their minds and stick to their convictions. He could basically print anything he wanted in the paper and they would believe it. Just like they would believe this article.

He was quite excited to get Snivellus out of the school. Just a small step in the road toward revenge.

**-oOo-**

Four students sat at the Ravenclaw table anxiously awaited the arrival of the owls. They wanted the incompetent potions professor gone and were sure that this article would start that process fairly quickly. They chatted excitedly about everything and nothing, just waiting and watching.

Soon enough, they heard the call of the owls as the mail arrived. All four teens grinned and shared a look before three owls swooped in front of them with their copies of the Prophet. Harry took the paper from Hedwig's leg and handed it to Hermione, before tossing his faithful familiar some pieces of bacon. The headline was printed in big bold letters,

**Proper Education at Hogwarts: Fact or Fiction?**

_We at the Prophet were surprised when we received letters from a pair of students at Hogwarts who have resorted to taking drastic action to correct a terrible wrong coming in the form of Hogwarts Potions Professor, Severus Snape. While a renowned Potions Master, it seems as if his qualifications as an educator are being called into question by the students he "teaches"._

_The two brave students have sought out help, equipped with 300 signatures from other students of all Houses at Hogwarts who confirm that both testimonies are completely true._

_Below are the cries for help:_

_Professor Snape does not teach. Instead, he writes potion ingredients on the board and tells us to get to work. We have no directions, no proper instructions, no reasons why a certain ingredients reacts the way it does, nothing. _

_If we ask him for help, he will either ignore us or insult us for being, and I quote, "dunderheads." It seems to be a habit of his to criticize students, to emotionally abuse them, for no reasons that we know of. __I cannot name how many times one of my potions have been ruined by the Slytherins and yet, I get points taken and a incomplete grade. How am I supposed to learn? Will anyone take any action or will we be forced to endure this treatment?_

_**- Neville Longbottom, Scion of House Longbottom, fourth year Gryffindor**_

"Ugh, I sound so preachy," Neville grumbled, looking at his words.

"That's exactly how we want it to sound. Everyone will eat this shit up," Harry said, before being flicked on the nose by Hermione for his language. He smiled apologetically and kissed her hand, "Sorry, love."

"Daphne, you sound brilliant," Hermione commented, glancing down to the Slytherin's testimony.

_It is true that Professor Severus Snape favors our House. I have seen him award some of my fellow Housemates points if they sabotage another student's potion. He will also give high marks to my fellow classmates for their potions, ignoring if it was up to the standard or even complete. I have to wonder, am I being scored on my potion making abilites or my circumstances of sorting into the Slytherin House?_

_**- Daphne Greengrass, Heiress of House Greengrass, fourth year Slytherin**_

_Even someone from his own House has recognized the injustice! Here at the Prophet, we implore someone to take action so our children can receive a proper education and not fear walking into their Potions class._

Harry smirked as the Great Hall erupted into excited chatter and he looked up toward the front where the Potions professor had turned a shade of puce that would have made Vernon look pale. If his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, he could have sworn that Dumbledore's blue eyes were twinkling with mirth, while other teachers looked rather pleased with the article. All in all, it looked like it was turning out to be a success.

"Mischief Managed."

**-oOo-**

Witches and wizards across the country were in an uproar about the Potions Master. Parents of students at Hogwarts sent numerous letters and even howlers to Dumbledore to Minister Fudge, and even to Amelia Bones, imploring one of them to do something.

Turns out they didn't have to, Severus Snape simply didn't return to work they day after the article was published. All of his things were packed and gone. Though, thousands of howlers were found in his office and they suspected that he might have either hearing or brain damage from all the noise.

Dumbledore announced in the Great Hall that Snape wouldn't be returning admist cheers and Weasley made fireworks as the castle, sans Slytherin, celebrated. Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Daphne grinned at each other.

**-oOo-**

_Ba-bum...ba-bum...ba-bum..._

Harry could literally hear his heartbeat in his ears, all the noise of the crowd cancelled out. He saw Ludo Bagman speaking, but couldn't make out the words. All he heard was 'hostage...Hermione' before his mind shut down. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his breathing was deep and slow, his lips curling into a snarl. It never occurred to him that Hermione would be what he sorely missed. It said _'what',_ not _who_.

McGonagall had collected Hermione while she and Harry were sitting out by the Lake, trying to relax. She didn't return, though and he just assumed that she was kept late doing whatever they were doing.

He woke up early, barely able to sleep at all last night. He couldn't find Hermione all morning, no one had seen her. He was worried sick over her but wondered if maybe she was sick and sleeping. Sirius and Remus had breakfast with him, Neville, and Daphne but Harry could barely eat. He was nervous about the task and about Hermione not being there. She was his rock, why wasn't she with him?

_'Because she was busy attending a tea party with the Giant Squid at the bottom of the Lake!'_ Harry growled in his head.

"Find her, Pup." Sirius said in his ear, squeezing his shoulder as a sign of comfort. It did nothing to comfort him and tight lipped, Harry nodded. _'Damn right I'm going to find her,'_ he thought as the cannon went off, signalling the commencement of the task.

Harry quickly shoved the Dobby snatched gillyweed, which Neville had offered as an alternative when they had second thoughts about the bubble head charm, down his throat and dove into the water, not even registering the slight ache in his neck as he grew gills. He also saw that his feet and hands became webbed, allowing him to swim faster.

_'Find Hermione. Get her out. Then kick whoever put her at the bottom of the Lake's arse,'_ he thought angrily, swimming deeper and deeper. He didn't care if it was Dumbledore himself who did it, he would kick his wrinkly arse. He swam as fast as he could into the murky depths, his heart slamming against his rib cage and adrenaline coursed through his veins. Time didn't seem to exist the deeper and deeper he swam, it could have been seconds or days. He thanked Hermione for his waterproof watch as he saw that forty minutes had already passed.

It was eerily dark and quiet causing Harry to tighten the grip on his wand. Then he felt it.

The feeling of chills racing down his spine that you get when someone watches you. Curious, he pointed his wand in front of him, _"Lumos!"_

He jumped in surprise as he came face to face with a snarling merman, who was in the middle of jabbing his sharp spear at Harry. Because of the sudden bright light, the merman's aim was off and he caught Harry in the shoulder.

Harry screamed in pain and his anger flared to dangerous levels. The strong emotion caused the lighting charm still active in his wand to brighten even more and the merman shielded his eyes from the light. Harry's mind slowed down, but his angered body moved and he pointed his wand, _"Reducto!"_

The spell impacted the merman's head, blowing the top right part of it off. He watched with morbid fascination as the water all around them turned dark crimson from his blood, some bits of skull and brain floated through it. The body of the merman floated away the half of his face that was still intact had a shocked expression. Harry felt his stomach roll, he just killed someone.

_'Focus, the hour is almost up. Hermione. You have to find Hermione,'_ a calm voice sounded in his mind, causing him to snap out of his daze.

His mind set, he started swimming deeper and deeper. His shoulder was steadily bleeding and stinging from the water, he knew he needed to close it. Pointing his wand he said, _"Episkey!"_

A sigh of relief escaped him as the wound closed, now he wouldn't pass out from blood loss, but he definitely needed Madam Pomfrey's help after he found Hermione. The spear went all the way to his muscle, which unfortunately impeded his swimming.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that fifty minutes had passed and he only had ten minutes to find her before..._'past the hour, the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'_

"No!" Harry growled, swimming faster and faster. He saw a sliver of movement from his right and followed it, praying that it wasn't another merman or a school of grindylows.

What he saw was much, much worse. It was Hermione, Cho Chang, a little blond girl that had to be related to Fleur, and a miniature version of Krum. What scared him wasn't the fact that the other hostages looked like they were drowning victims.

It was the fact that Hermione was awake and trying to free herself from the post she was tied to that momentarily stopped his heart.

* * *

**A/N: This was the chapter that never ends. Seriously, I don't know why it took so long to write, but it did. **

**Ugh, it's too much fluff. Can I write anything other than it? I don't want to just shove angst down your throat, but I don't know. Is it too much?**

**Eh, I'm not sure that I'll redeem Draco, but he'll grow up just like Ron. Maybe he'll realize that this whole mudblood hate is futile and stupid. You can also respect someone without liking them. He's still up in the air right now, but the gears in his brain are working.**

**What do you think? Is it a little fast that Harry and Hermione are talking about love? I just think it's different with every couple. My parents told each other after three months of dating and they just celebrated their 30th anniversary last week.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Last chapter's first author's note was written before I wrote the chapter because I had a clear picture of what I wanted Harry to do, but then I rewrote that chapter so many times because it didn't flow. I think in the next couple of chapters you'll see signs of 'powerful Harry'.**

**There are two quotes in this chapter from my favorite tv show and one of my favorite movies (Orange Is the New Black and Batman Returns) credit is given where credit is due.**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**- Four hours prior to second task -**

Three witches and one wizard laid in the hospital wing, in a seemingly peaceful sleep.

Professor Dumbledore's hands were tied with this task, he fought hard to get it cancelled, but Cornelius Fudge, Barty Crouch, and Ludo Bagman were adamant. He was also outvoted against Maxime and Karkaroff, so he had to allow Miss Granger and Miss Chang to be used in the tournament. The Changs approved it months ago and Albus, as Miss Granger's magical guardian, approved her participation.

He took many precautions and made sure that they would be safe, though. A professor would be down there with them to monitor the creatures of the Black Lake, to keep their distance, while making sure the champions were also safe. The task would be, as the muggles say, a cake-walk.

It was a couple of hours before the task as Madam Pomfrey monitored the four closely. She had sent them to sleep the night before and was about to apply the stasis to them. She knew that they would be completely safe in the stasis until they broke the surface of the water with their champion and they would 'revive'. It had been tested thoroughly, in case of any accidents and there would be none. She had to be sure of it. She always tried to treat each students at Hogwarts with the care she would treat her own children.

The maternal instinct in Poppy Pomfrey wanted to refuse to do this to them, but she had orders by her boss to be followed. All she could do was make sure they were as safe as possible and she glanced over to her bottomless bag which held warming blankets, a collection of different potions, and anything else that would be needed for the task.

She walked over to the closes hostage which was Anton Krum - Viktor's nephew, and raised her wand to apply the stasis. She never had time to react before she heard from behind her, _"Imperio!"_

**-oOo-**

A very irritated Potions Master sat in his Fidelius protected small cottage. It was sparsely furnished with a transfigured bed and a table for potion brewing, most of the clutter in the house being ingredients for said potions.

He glared at the article written in the Prophet that caused his demise. At first, he thought that no one would pay attention to a bunch of kids, but he should have known. Sirius Black, the bane of his present existence, was behind it. One of his very own from his House, the blood traitor Greengrass, had turned against him.

Barty then told him to leave, he said that it had drawn too much attention to himself. The Dark Lord would be most displeased with this and that he needed to hide out until the return, which was what he was doing. He had bought this small cottage for that specific reason - hiding. Just in case things became too hot, he had an escape.

He knew that Albus didn't trust him anymore and he could have cursed himself for fucking up. He was supposed to remain inconspicuous while acting like he normally did, but Hogwarts was changing. Students from each House were integrating with each other

So he had to sit. And wait. He itched his rapidly growing mark, wincing at the burn. He glanced over to the Draught he was currently brewing, which was all he really could do. Brew potions and wait. It would be worth it in the end. The Dark Lord would return and things would be set right.

Soon.

**-oOo-**

Harry felt numb as he looked at Hermione. She was trying to wave her arms to swim upward, but her feet were tied to the post that the others were.

He didn't give himself any time for another thought as he quickly swam over to her and placed his hands on her face, trying to and her that he was with her. Her terror filled face filled with confusion before she seemed to recognize his touch. She obviously couldn't see well with the murky lake water and the bottom was completely silent. It was a naturally scary situation to be in and he wanted to make sure she knew he was with her.

Hermione brought her hands to Harry's arms and felt her lungs burning with lack of oxygen. She was was starting to panic, her face a picture of pure fear and Harry's heart was breaking at the sight.

Strange how you can realize things during panic, but this wasn't just his girlfriend, this was the girl who believed him when she barely knew him, who trusted him, who helped him in his time of need, who showed him real affection, who he was starting to fall in love with.

It didn't even matter that he had no idea what love was before, because he just _knew _that was the feeling he whenever he looked about her, or thought about her, or whenever he was kissing her. That was worth protecting, but they were teetering on the edge of life and death. Her life was basically in his hands and he needed to save her, there was no other option. If she died...he really didn't know what he would do.

One of her hands left his arms and was grasping at her throat, indicating that she needed to breathe. He didn't know the bubble head charm because Neville mentioned the gillyweed and Hermione probably couldn't silently cast it.

She looked so scared and he just wanted to kiss her, to make her feel better when an idea came to Harry. He took her face in his hands and brought his mouth to hers. Once it was covered, he glided his tongue against the seal of her lips and opened before blowing his breath in.

She knew what he was doing and inhaled, slightly relieving her burning lungs, but she needed fresh air and fast. She also took comfort in the feel of his lips on hers and in that moment, they weren't at the bottom of the Lake. They were somewhere safe and warm.

Harry knew that time was almost up and that Hermione needed to breathe fresh air, plus the gillyweed would also be wearing off soon since he only took enough for a little over an hour.

Problem was that he didn't now if he could swim fast enough to the surface, before he remembered a charm he came across while flipping through one of Hermione's books. He pointed his wand at Hermione's feet and cast a small scissor charm at the rope which released her. Grabbing on tightly to his girlfriend who was, in turn, clinging to him, he pointed up, _"Ascendio!"_

He felt them starting to move up before his leg was forcefully being pulled down and Hermione was yanked from his arms. Looking at the grip on his foot, he saw another snarling merman pulling on his foot while one pulled a struggling Hermione away from him, defenseless without her wand. The merman lined up his sharp spear at her throat and Harry's mind went blank.

This wasn't just a tournament anymore, there was no time to ask for a rhyme or reason, this was life or death - _Hermione's _life or death. Over the past couple of months, Hermione had become the most important person in his life. She was real, she was kind, she was intelligent, she was beautiful; she was sometimes a know-it-all with a 'pushiness' problem and he _loved_ her for it. Anything trying to harm her would have to go through him.

He felt a power surge in his body that threw the merman away from him, before he pointed his wand at the one about to impale Hermione's throat. He silently cast his first spell and very powerful one at that when it was paired with the rage he was feeling. Later on, he would be surprised that he even was able to cast it. The most difficult spell he was able to cast silently was the summoning charm, and even then it was only from a close distance.

There were no thoughts for stunners or body binds, he _wanted _to hurt this being who was trying to kill Hermione. With precise aim that he had practiced on the training dummies in the RoR, the entrail expeller impacted the merman's gut, causing him to shriek as he tried to keep his insides _inside_ of him.

Turning, Harry was about to deal with the shocked merman staring at his, now dead, comrade. He looked at Harry and lined up his spear, before he was knocked away from Harry by a large form.

Harry blinked in confusion before he saw a half transfigured Viktor Krum who had the top half of him transfigured into a shark. The only way he could tell that it was Viktor was from the Durmstrang crest on his shorts. He saw the merman was momentarily stunned, giving Harry an opportunity to stun him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Cedric swimming around a merman who was lingering around Cho, not letting Cedric get close to her as he jabbed his spear to keep him back. Cedric, demonstrating his sharp seeker reflexes, evaded the sharp object and sent the merman into a body bind.

_'Why are they attacking?' _Harry thought as he turned to get his Hermione.

To his surprise, he saw Fleur with her. He watched as the French witch pointed her wand at Hermione's face and swam over to question what the hell she was doing, when suddenly a bubble formed around Hermione's head.

He was filled with gratitude toward Fleur and vowed to repay her somehow as he took Hermione in his arms, "Thank you!"

Fleur gave him a nod before swimming over to the little blond girl. Viktor already cut loose his hostage with his shark teeth, while Cedric held onto Cho, his eyes darting all over the lake, wand at ready.

As if everyone had the same thought on their minds, all the champions waited until each safely received their hostage, while watching out for more mermen, before swimming to the surface. A show of unity against this farce of a task that endangered everyone's lives. The gillyweed had worn off on the way up to the surface, but Harry could see the light near and felt safer with the other champions around.

**-oOo-**

Daphne's nails were digging into her jaw as she watched the water, looking for any sign of Harry and Hermione. They had been down a long time and she was starting to panic, wondering if maybe the giant squid got them, or the grindylows. Anything could happen down there and they were letting kids participate!

"It'll be alright, Daph," Neville said, sliding an arm around her. The gesture, while a bit awkward since Neville wasn't used to initiating contact, it was a comfort and from her state of mind, she couldn't help but burrow into the embrace.

"Hey, Greengrass, is Longbottom the best you could do?" she heard a sneering voice behind her and turned to see Pansy Parkinson standing there, in all her pug-like glory with her own hench-woman, Millie Bulstrode, next to her. The blonde Slytherin just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

Inwardly, she was ready to curse her into next tuesday, her patience already running thin from the concern for her friends. What really set off her temper was when she saw the way Neville's head dropped, his self-confidence depletion almost visible_. 'Time to nip this in the bud,'_ she thought, determined to defend the boy she had a crush on.

"Coming from the _bitch_-oops, I mean _witch_ who is betrothed to _Draco Malfoy_? You're one to talk," Daphne said, watching as Pansy's face reddened in anger. "Where is Draco, Pansy? Is the little coward still not showing his pretty little face? Is he still hiding in the dungeons?"

"No," the dark haired Slytherin growled, before her air of superiority reappeared and she adopted the same look that Narcissa Malfoy wore. "He's sitting with his father watching the task."

"Ooh, the great Lucius Malfoy. You know that he got his arse kicked by a house elf in our second year?"

"You lie!"

"Nope." Daphne said with a smirk.

Pansy sneered, "You're an embarrassment to Slytherin, Daphne and I know you're just jealous because Lucius denied the betrothal between you and my Draco."

"Oh, Merlin! Neville, did you know that ferrets and pugs mated? You learn something new every day," Neville chuckled while Daphne stepped up to Pansy, fingering her wand in case she tried anything. She smirked, "Oh, and it was _my _father who denied the betrothal proposal in July of 1982. Yours was proposed after, right?"

She didn't get to to enjoy the outraged look on Pansy's face before Neville yelled, "It's them!"

Daphne whipped her head around, absent mindedly waving the gruesome twosome along while she and Neville made their way to the platform to see their friends.

**-oOo-**

Eight heads broke the surface, hearing four horns blow and the crowd explode with boisterous cheering. Time seemed to slow down for Harry and all the noise had cut out, he only cared about getting Hermione, who was taking deep breaths of fresh air. They all started to swim over to the platform and away,_ far away,_ from the water. It seemed to be the common goal shared among the champions.

"All four champions complete their task at once! A tie!" Ludo Bagman's loud, joy filled voice rang out.

They let Fleur and Viktor's hostages climb on the platform first, followed by Cho and Hermione, each champion climbing on after and being swarmed with warming blankets. Harry wrapped one around a shivering Hermione, before getting on for himself and wrapped it around the both of them.

Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor starting yelling at once, though they weren't coherent over the crowd's cheers from Bagman amping them up. Dumbledore and Crouch were trying to make heads or tails of their words while he and Hermione clung to each other.

It was all too much. There was too much noise for Harry as he looked at Hermione's panicked face burrowing into his chest. "Who did it?!"

Professor Dumbledore took immediate notice of him. "What are you talking about, Mr. Potter?"

"Who put my girlfriend at the bottom of the bloody lake?!" Harry roared, his voice echoing and silencing everyone's cheers.

"And mine!" Cedric added, holding on to Cho.

"Why would you take my little sister?!" Fleur cut in, looking as if the Veela side wanted to make an appearance.

"And why was Hermione was already _awake _when I got down there," Harry seethed, glaring right at a now pale Bagman and a red-faced Crouch. Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened as she continued administering potions to the hostages.

"What?" anyone within hearing range yelled.

"Impossible!" Crouch said, his anger for the Boy-Who-Lived showing.

"She was! She almost drowned and she's not in this tournament! Then we get attacked by the mermen. Was that a part of the requirements? To get killed? For the ones we will 'sorely miss' to?"

"Professor Sinistra was down there, she should have been monitoring everyone along with the mermen. If you didn't retrieve your hostage when the hour was up, then she would have cut them loose." McGonagall said, glancing around the Lake for the Astronomy professor.

"I want answers! Now!" Viktor thundered, holding on tightly to the shaking boy clinging to his leg. He was speaking in rapid Bulgarian, his face a picture of confusion.

"The task required what each champion would sorely mis-" Bagman started weakly.

"It said '_what'_, not _who_! You could have taken my Firebolt and met the fucking requirements!"

"Watch your tongue, Potter." Barty Crouch warned, pointing a finger at Harry.

Harry was about to snap back at the poncy man, but was immediately relieved to see Sirius push through the crowd and walk right over to Harry and Hermione, crouching in front of them with a seriousness Harry had never seen before. "Hermione, did you give your permission to take part in the tournament?"

"No! Why would I want to be stuck at the bottom of a Lake? I thought they would take Harry's cloak or something, not _me_."

"What happened last night?" Harry asked, wrapping the blankets tighter around them.

"I remember going to McGonagall's office after dinner and...then it's all black," Hermione said.

"Perhaps we should all go inside and discuss this," Professor Dumbledore said, throwing hard look at Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman.

Fleur suddenly let out a shrill shriek, before covering her sister's eyes and pulling her away. Naturally everyone's attention was drawn to what scared her and they all had a similar reaction.

As soon as they saw what had spooked Fleur, Hermione burrowed her face into Harry's neck while the Boy-Who-Lived could only stare, wrapping his arms tighter around his shaking girlfriend. He felt completely numb, all the screams, the shrieks, the cries, the orders were silent as he just stared. And stared.

Professor Sinistra had a spear sticking out of her stomach as she floated in the water. Her lifeless dark eyes stared at the grey sky, which had opened up as an omnious rainfall started.

**-oOo-**

"It's enough. She needs to be pulled from that school," Dan Granger proclaimed to his wife, his tone holding no room for argument. He was as mad as a raging bull as soon as Sirius started explaining what had happened at the second task. It was only his wife's steady head that kept him from storming up to Hogwarts. He would find a way to see the school to pull his daughter, he would march through the gates of hell for his girls.

Sirius tried to keep his usual 'playboy playfulness' and stepped up as Lord Sirius Black when he explained everything and where Hermione was. He knew that it probably wasn't the best time to do so, but with Hermione just whisked off without anyone's permission, he needed to have her protected. He had proposed himself becoming her magical guardian so that nothing like her unwanted involvement in the tournament would happen again.

The reason he offered the magical guardian proposal was so that he could give their parents some control over decisions being made. She was already under the protection of House Potter and Black, but this would seal it tightly and basically place her under his house as his 'daughter' in the magical world and making her untouchable.

He had left the two parents alone to think about it, knowing that they needed to have a long discussion. He knew that it was also a large possibility that they would pull Hermione from Hogwarts and though it would devastate Harry, it was _their _decision and he would only offer any advice they asked.

While Dan was the head of the family, Emma was the neck and she could steer him her way.

"Dan, before you dive headfirst into your decision, let's discuss this first," Emma said, trying to placate her husband while he was in his 'caveman' mood.

"Em, I cannot take any more of this. Our daughter is attacked by a troll, spends three weeks in their infirmary, where we couldn't even vist her. This year, she's sent mail that harmed her hands and she almost drowns in this tournament she's not even a part of!" he thundered, Emma raising an eyebrow at him to calm down before she saw the steel walls that were Dan Granger crumble.

She was expressing the same sentiments she was feeling. Ironically, she was more in touch with her logical side and was able to think about things before just acting while he acted on his emotions. She knew how sensitive he was, he was the one who cried with Hermione when they first watched Bambi, but she also knew that when either she or Hermione were threatened he would be in fight mode.

"I don't want to bury my daughter, Em."

For the first time since the day Hermione was born, Dan cried. Hermione was born two months premature and they feared if she would survive as small as she was. Dan took the role of protective father seriously since Hermione would be his only child, so when schoolyard bullies started on Hermione, they tried to resolve it. Unfortunately, it only seemed to aggravate the bullies.

All Dan and Emma wanted was for Hermione to be happy, something that seemed so hard to accomplish. They wanted her to have friends, be a typical kid, running around and getting dirty, but their daughter sunk herself into books and receiving high marks in school. Of course, she looked happy reading, they wanted something more for her.

Receiving letters about her helping a boy out with the school's tournament were a pleasant surprise, even more so when Hermione's personal letters to her mother detailed her growing feelings for the boy. Lately, she had added two others to her budding friends list - Neville Longbottom and Daphne Greengrass. Emma was surprised with the last one as Hermione described her - the prettiest girl in school but incredibly sweet and intelligent.

"I allowed her to stay in Hogwarts after the troll because I thought that it was a freak accident and it would never happen again. Also, the eyes got me," he muttered, remembering her puppy dog eyes she gave during her speech on why she wanted to stay in Hogwarts. He couldn't deny Hermione anything and he saw the determination in her twelve year old eyes.

"I'm scared too, Dan, but this is her world. She is a witch. She'd hate it if we took that away from that world," Emma murmured, brushing her hands through her husband's hair. "You know that she'd resent you for a while if _you _took her away from her friends and Harry."

He sighed, frustrated. "How can I protect her when I cannot even visit her?"

"I think that's what Sirius was thinking when he gave us the protection offer for her."

He frowned at the thought and she immediately knew he was thinking before he even said it. "I feel like that's just signing my daughter over to someone who we barely know."

"Dan, he's not trying to take her away from us. Exactly the opposite, he's trying to keep her protected in a place we can't. You heard him - any decisions would be discussed with us first," she said, but decided to butter him up a bit. "_You _are the one who changed her nappies, _you _are who she went to when she had a nightmare, _your _are who she cried with her during Bambi-"

"I told you - I had allergies that day," he grumbled.

"In January?" she quipped, smiling in victory when he laughed and she pecked his lips, holding him closely.

"You'll always be her daddy, darling."

"I'm scared, Em."

"Me too. I'm terrified."

**-oOo-**

Harry and Hermione were sleeping dreamlessly in the, now empty, hospital wing. A lot had happened while they slumbered - Professor Sinistra's body had been taken away, Poppy Pomfrey had been arrested for child endangerment, and Sirius had gone to Hermione's house to explain what happened to her parents.

After the discovery of Professor Sinistra's body, the students were ordered back to their common rooms while the champions, their hostages, and their families were sent to the hospital wing for check-ups and to relax.

Harry had gotten his shoulder fixed quickly by Madam Pomfrey and luckily, he was the only one with an injury, while the others were given calming draughts and time to relax with their families.

Harry and Hermione had refused to let go of each other after on their bed. When Sirius tried to move Hermione to a different bed, Harry had been transported back to the Lake where the merman was taking Hermione away from him.

It was only Harry's exhaustion and magical core exhaustion and Hermione's calming voice that cut through his anger and saved the hospital wing from Mount Harry blowing and obliterating everyone in his wake.

Poppy Pomfrey had been drowning in guilt that Hermione had woken up from the stasis, though she had no idea how. She remembered properly placing the charms over them and Albus, Barty Crouch, Ludo Bagman, and Minerva had levitated them out to the Lake.

She had a job to do, however, and ordered to keep the two of them together, administering dreamless sleeping potions and covering them with thick blankets and warming charms while the slept. Amelia Bones had stormed into the wing with the Headmaster to speak to the Healer who had administered the stasis that almost cost Hermione her life.

When asked to hand over her wand, she was immediately cuffed with magical suppressing cuffs when the priori incantato found hostile compulsions charms on them. She was taken away despite protests, while everyone was shocked that the gentle natured Healer would do something so vile.

Albus looked over at the children he had sworn to protect, feeling like a failure for the first time since placing Harry with the muggles. As he sat in his office alone, he wept. A professor was dead, eight were in mortal danger, two were dangerously closed to being killed, and many students were traumatized.

He wished he could turn back time and refuse Hogwarts participation in the tournament.

**-oOo-**

The day after the task, Harry sat in the Great Hall with Sirius, staring at his plate in shock at the news he was just given. "She's been fired for child endangerment and might have to go on trial."

"Madam Pomfrey...she took care of me all those times I was in the hospital...she was-"

"Last war, we couldn't trust anyone, Harry. James and I even lost trust in Remus. If it's happening again, we need to be the same way."

Sirius pulled out the card that Harry would react do, "You want to keep Hermione safe, right?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course. I'm doing a pretty good job, aren't I?" he spat, his tone biting with sarcasm. Sirius saw the guilt on his face and needed to lock that down. He also didn't want any of this pity-party shit with Harry if he needed to grow up. He had enough of that with James and Lily, the former blaming himself on getting Lily pregnant during a time of war.

"Then be wary. Of everyone and everything. Your father was the same way with Lily and that only heightened when they had you. Stop this feeling sorry for yourself shit because you couldn't stop them from putting Hermione in the Lake. That's their fault, not yours."

"I killed two mermen, Sirius," Harry said, waiting for the disappointment or the hate to flash across his godfather's face.

To Sirius, who didn't really believe that mermen and grindylows were on the same levels as a witch or wizard, it was water off a duck's back. "We've all killed, Harry. I've killed before, the last war we couldn't spare any thoughts of any casualties. If it happens like it did before...we're going to have to kill again. To keep everyone safe."

Harry just stared at Sirius, not really knowing how to take his words. He just brushed off his killing of something.

Sirius really wished he was better at this talking thing. That was always James' forte. He was the Marauder if you needed to vent about something, if you needed a shoulder to cry on and a mind that wouldn't judge. He was the one Sirius talked to, about his family life, about the betrayal he felt when Reg took the mark, about the men and women he had killed last war. James always gave out the greatest advice.

He couldn't help but feel helpless as he looked at his struggling nephew and desperately wished he held the tools to give him the comfort he needed. He could joke and make Harry laugh, but it wouldn't help the situation.

**-oOo-**

Hermione noticed that Harry was acting different the three days after the second task. Classes had been cancelled for Professor Sinistra's death, they didn't have Potion's professor, or a astronomy professor. The school was solemn, still in shock over what had happened and no one was more solemn than Harry Potter.

Hermione was concerned for her boyfriend. Of course she didn't expect him to bounce back after what happened, she wasn't back to normal either and wanted to talk to him about it. He barely looked at Hermione and when he did, his looks were so full of guilt and self-hatred, Hermione had to look away. They didn't share any displays of affection and the distance between the two seemed to grow each day.

On the third day, he went out of his way to ignore Hermione, acting like she didn't even exist. Fortunately, she was able to corner him outside of the kitchens.

"Hey," she said softly, offering a small smile. She received a curt nod while he just looked behind her. She needed to talk to someone and the only ones she felt compelled to talk to where Harry and her parents, though this couldn't be said over a letter. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, trying to find a place to start. "Are you okay, Harry?"

He finally looked at her, though his face was emotionless. "No."

"Right. Stupid question."

Awkward silence filled the air, Hermione studying Harry's face while he continued to look anywhere but her face. "I have to go," he said, trying to walk around her, but Hermione stepped in front of him.

"Where?"

"Just...I need to think, Hermione."

"Do you want me to come wi-"

"No," he said, sharper than he intended. He shook his head, "No, I want to be alone."

Hermione was becoming impatient and tried to approach it head on. "Harry, I don't think that you should just bottle this up."

"I'm not," he shrugged nonchalantly. Inwardly, he was panicking and in full flight mode.

"I think you should talk about...what happened. I think it would help you. Maybe to Sirius or Professor Dumbledore or...you know you can talk to me."

He immediately shook his head no. "I don't want to talk about it, Hermione."

He had looked away from her again, looking everywhere but her face. "Harry...please," Hermione moved to be in his line of sight, but he moved his eyes away. She laughed, a bitter, mirthless sound. "You're not even going to look at me?"

He stubbornly kept his eyes ahead and Hermione was angry at his immaturity. "Harry!"

"What?! I said I want to be alone, Hermione!" he yelled angrily, causing Hermione to jump back in surprise. "Can you understand that? Merlin, get off my get off my fucking back and stop nagging me!"

She recoiled as if she had been struck and stared at him in shock. They had small disagreements before, but he had never outright yelled at her like he just did. He never thought he would use words that he _knew_ hurt her deeply.

She was very self-conscious about her being 'pushy', which was his word to describe her. She used 'nagging', but he wasn't having any of that and said that she was pushy for good reasons and sometimes he needed it. She motivated him, kept him determined, kept him on track.

Now, though, everything was too chaotic. He was trying to come around to the fact that he killed two living beings, his failure to protect her from the Lake, Professor Sinistra's death, Madam Pomfrey's arrest...

Harry lifted his eyes from the ground and winced as he saw the tears starting to fall down her cheeks. He needed to get out, he couldn't watch her cry, it would break him. Even more than he already was. He walked around her, storming out of the castle and just walked.

Harry felt like he was shutting down and his guilt felt like he had killed three people instead of two, that Professor Sinistra's death was somehow his fault. He never had an outlet to vent to before and now that he had Hermione, he didn't know how. He talked about his home life at the Dursleys and everything he went through his years at Hogwarts, but this could break them completely.

He was scared of what she thought about him _killing_ those mermen. Would she be disgusted with him? Would she think he was a monster? Would she hate him?

He tried to distance himself from her, maybe to make the ache in his chest hurt less, definitely to keep her safe. Everything bad that happened to Hermione had some correlation to Harry Potter. If he had only warned her about the troll, if he had only stepped up and defended her when she was being bullied, if he had only not accepted her help, she would have been safe. He was bad for her. Hell, he was bad for everyone. All he left in his wake was destruction and death.

Maybe he should just break up with her-"Don't you dare do it, Harry Potter."

He jumped in surprise at the voice and turned his head to see Daphne all but storming over to him, a determined and slightly angry expression on her face. "Do what?"

"I know what you're thinking. You want to keep her safe at all costs, I get it. It's not the right way to do it, though."

He frowned and looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "Can you read my mind?"

She smirked and took a seat next to him. "No, but I'm smart. Granted, not as smart as your girlfriend, but I can hold my own. What the hell are you doing, Harry?"

"Trying to keep her safe. I'm dangerous to be around."

"She's already in too deep, Harry. You both are," Daphne saw from the look on his face that he didn't believe her and his stubborn streak was shining through. She ran a hand through her hair, ready to drop the ball. "I probably shouldn't say this, but she's in love with you."

Harry was shocked into silence, letting that roll around his brain. _'She's in love with me...Hermione's in love with me...she loves me...' _this train of thought filled him with warmth, the hollow ache in his chest disappearing. His face then dropped, remembering the hurt expression on the girl who _loved _him. The girl he was starting to fall in love with.

"If you leave her, you won't be paying anyone any favors. You'll most likely just hurt yourselves for no reason at all," Daphne laid it out for him. "I reckon you're in love with her, too."

"I...I think I am. I talked to Sirius and my feelings for Hermione...yeah, I am," Harry admitted out loud, seeing a small smile curve at Daphne's lips. He shook his head, "I just yelled at her. I said that she was 'nagging', something I know she's insecure about. I couldn't protect her in the Lake...I should have-"

"Harry," Daphne cut him off sternly, her ice blue eyes locking him into her gaze. "Stop with the pity party. You _cannot_ protect her 24/7 without smothering her and that would probably rip apart your relationship too. She's a formidable witch, she can take care of herself. You know she'd have your arse if you tried to go all caveman on her. If she doesn't hex you for acting like an arsehole just now."

Harry laughed in spite of his mood, knowing that would be exactly what she would do.

"I've really acted like an arse, haven't I?"

"Well, when I saw her, she was crying but couldn't form any intelligible words for me to understand, so I'd say that's a yes. I think she was on her way to Flitwick's." Daphne was blunt as a bludger, not giving the boy an inch. She knew that Hermione had a quality to 'push' people and she needed to understand that sometimes people needed to talk on their own time, but she also knew that Harry hurt her feelings and messed up. She saw it on his face as he looked pained and on the verge of tears himself.

"Listen, I know that things happened down there that I wouldn't understand. Neville, Sirius, Professor Dumbledore - they wouldn't understand because they weren't there. Only Hermione would...maybe she was 'nagging' you because she needed to talk about it as well and was 'nagging' you about it because she didn't know how to approach it."

He moaned and covered his face as realization dawned on him, "I'm such a shit boyfriend!"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're just a boy. And couples always bicker and sometimes fight, so it's not the end of the world...you don't want to break up with her, right?"

Harry looked like she just said that "Are you kidding? She's the best thing to happen to me."

"Good. Now, you're going to go to the kitches and make up her favorite meal as apology incentive, you're going to give her a heartfelt apology for yelling at her, grovel a bit, give her a cuddle and some kisses, and _move on _from this," she said, before raising a manicured eyebrow. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go get your girl, lover boy."

"Thanks, Daphne. I'm really glad we're friends," Harry said with a grateful smile. He wouldn't have known what to do to make it up to her. He probably would have brooded and berated himself for snapping at her, not exactly knowing how to approach her to apologize.

The blonde Slytherin sighed, shaking her head. "Oh, Potter. I was just starting to like you. Are you going soft on me?"

Harry laughed and stood up, dusting off his jeans before running off to start his apology. Daphne watched him with a small smile and shook her head. She was glad to have him and Hermione in her life, having their friendship.

**-oOo-**

"Honey, I'm home! Oh, wait, I'm not married."

Elena Hall wearily sighed as she entered her apartment in Salem, Massachusetts. She took out her wand, flickering her lights and the television on to add some background noise to her lonely and quiet home. Another flick of her wrist and the pot on the stove started to heat up for her dinner. It was a habit she had acquired in the last five years of living in this place and it didn't look like there was any way out.

She lived alone with her familiar, a black cat named Wednesday, which was the way her life was shaping up to be. She grimaced at the thought of remaining single her entire life and turning into a cat lady.

Elena had been told more than once in her life that she was an attractive woman; blonde hair in a pixie cut style, heart-shaped face, hazel eyes, and lithe body. This took away from the fact that she was also thirty-three years old and single.

She had one real relationship back in her Hogwarts days. She was convinced that he was the absolute love of her life, until he graduated and decided to break up with her. She knew that he was a playboy, but she naively thought what they had was the real thing. Pathetically, she never recovered from that hurt and was considered damaged goods by any men who she dated.

Elena had gotten a job at Salem Village Hospital two years after she had graduated where she had gotten her Mastery while brewing potions for the hospital. Unfortunately, it was a dead end job with meagre pay. It was also not what she desire to do after she graduated from Hogwarts fifteen years ago. She desperately wanted to teach at a school, preferably her alma mater, but all resumes went unanswered and she knew exactly why.

Elena Hall was a first generation witch born to muggles Dr. Richard Hall, a pediatrician, and Caroline Hall, a homemaker. She had to move to America where the blood status quo wasn't as serious as it was in Britain, but she was still lucky to get the job at the hospital. That was only through countless recommendations from her former Head of House, Pomona Sprout.

She was the best in potions in her year and she suspected it was because she was also proficient in Herbology so she could understand why different plants reacted in the potions. She scored high on her OWLs and NEWTs and applied at just about every single magical school there was, but because of her blood status she was ignored, cast aside in favor of the blood elite.

She picked her mail up, frowning at the top letter. The waxed crest caused her to drop her other letters and rip it open in half-excitement, half-curiosity. She felt like she was eleven years old again receiving her letter to Hogwarts.

She read the letter inside once, twice, and a third time to make sure her eyes were not messing with her. The piece of parchment in her shaky hands was basically proclaiming her dream, all that she prayed and wished for. They wanted her to teach Potions at Hogwarts?

"YES!" she cried out, hopping around her apartment deliriously happy and excited as Wednesday looked at her witch, feeling the excitement through their bond. Elena was deliriously happy as she practically ran over to her desk to compose her two weeks notice.

She was going back to Hogwarts, she was going back home!

* * *

**A/N: I just have to say that I'm ecstatic you guys are enjoying this story. I'm incredibly nervous before I post every chapter, but I love that you guys like this so much. This chapter was kind of hard to write because it felt like it was going in all different directions and I had ideas for this story swarming my brain all week. I battled through and I hope that you like it. I hope I also settled a couple of questions in this chapter...and maybe raised a few more...**

**I just finished figuring out what their animagus forms and names will be! The idea hit me while I was writing it and I became so excited! Their forms are a pretty good reflection on their personalities and the names, I think, are fitting. Except for Harry's because nothing is coming to me. I'd appreciate your help if you can PM me and I'll tell you what his form is and maybe you can throw some ideas my way? The one I have right now is so cliche and lame.**

**Be aware of possible rating change in the future.**


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